


Care of Non-Magical Animals

by Miss_sunfire



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Crack Treated Seriously, Discrimination, Everyone Is Poly Because Avengers, F/F, F/M, Found Family, Foursome - F/F/F/M, Genderswap, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Polyamory, Protective Natasha Romanov, Self-Worth Issues, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, female hagrid as a hot older leather dyke
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2019-09-19 17:20:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17005884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_sunfire/pseuds/Miss_sunfire
Summary: Rubelia Hagritte has always felt out of place in the close knit magic community. Too big, too broad, and wrists ringed with an unseemly large set of soulmarks, the stares and sneers have dogged her since she was a girl. Over and over she was accused, framed and slapped down. Her wand, snapped on the barest accusation of misconduct from her pure blooded peers. The career she forged out of that tragedy on trial again and again and again. Through it all, the one thing keeping her head above water has been the support of her friend, mentor (and even surrogate father figure) Dumbledore.A friend who’s now dead, leaving the death eaters free reign over Hogwarts.Now, pushing 90, the half-giantess has finally been run out of magical world. Grabbing a portkey to parts unknown she arrives in the American midwest.Luckily for her, the small farmstead she ends up on has more than enough experience with weird.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hiiiiiii my lovely readers. I'm not dead, just been pounding through end of term (and defending my PhD thesis proposal) in a zombie like daze. Now that I'm into more relaxed holiday mode again I'm going to be posting more in this (and my other stories).
> 
> So this story. Yes, it's fucking weird and totally crackfic. Yes, I still wrote it. Yes it's fucking a weird ass plot bunny that was sticking with me for the last few weeks and I just had to get it out there. Yes I'm planning to write more. Yes I have a type (fucking older butch queer woman are my catnip, sue me). 
> 
> All that said, hope you enjoy!

Ducking her head low one Rubelia Hagritte entered a rough and tumble looking building in the small muggle town. The half-giant witch (technically true, even if she didn’t really feel like she could call herself that, given her almost complete lack of magical training post wand snapping) had desperately found herself grabbing an international port key and landing outside of the unknown community. Peaceful fields of wheat and corn stretched in every direction. Beautiful sure, but the scenery left little in the way of options for the giantess to catch her breath and the town bar was by far the most appealing. 

So, here she found herself, breathing in the acrid aroma of smoke, muggle spirits, beer and sweat. Thanking merlin for her foresight to pack several stacks of muggle currency in her coat just in case, she stomped over to the bar. The padded red vinyl stool groaned under her weight, but thankfully held. The bartender shot her a hesitant, almost scared glance, tension all through his form (dimly she realized her ragged leather jacket might be clocked as biker wear).

“Smile Rubelia, you have to smile my dear girl. You’re big and burly. People will be quite rightly scared when you tower over them. Just smile and they will open up and be your friend.”

Remembering the advice a much younger Dumbledore had given her, Hagritte flashed her brightest, most charming grin to the smaller man behind the bar. 

“How’re yeh doin’ lad?” She said, voice warm but gravelly. The barkeep seemed to start, surprised at the thick scottish accent (always more obvious when she was tired, and hell if she wasn’t exhausted) before smiling back. 

“Good, good. It’s friday night and the regulars are thirsty. What’s a Scottish lady doing in Iowa of all places, and what’ll she be drinking?” The bartender asked with a cheeky grin. 

“Oh, just passin’ through. Was in the area and wanted to take a bit of a break. I’ve got a thirst for a glass of whiskey though.” She answered, suppressing a wince at the blatant lie. Through the years, the order had actually been able to make progress on her ability to lie and hold back information. Well, at least a little bit of progress. Enough that she didn’t break the statute of secrecy whenever Dumbledore sent her to pick up a muggleborn anyway. 

Nodding and smiling again, the bartender quickly poured a glass of amber liquid and slid it across to the giantess. The man turned around, engaging one of the other patrons in a conversation once more. That suited the giantess just fine as her mood slid darker while she raised the glass to her lips. Grimacing at the lack of proper smokey peat in alcohol, she breathed out a long sigh. A cloying sense of apathy washed over her as she stared into the scratched wood of the bar.

God, what a fucking crock of shite. Young harry on the run, chasing horcruxes and trying to fight the war all on his own. Most of the order killed or sent into hiding. The ministry fallen, taken over by deatheaters. Any witches and wizards with even a drop of magical creature ancestry were running scared. Hunted for sport even. Hogwarts had fallen and the only house she’d ever owned was burned to the ground. She’d barely escaped with the clothes on her back, dodging curses (semi-successfully, she was after all, a big target) as all her possessions burned around her in her lunge for the portkey. She was just lucky her spotty at best memory of spells was enough to remember a few wandless charms to clean the ash off her face and mend the holes and cuts in her clothes. 

All those thoughts buzzed in her head, but were secondary to the one glaring, stabbing emotional wound in her life. Dumbledore was dead. 

Sure, she was still fucking pissed at him over the whole blood ward shenanigans he pulled. The giantess had barely held herself back from punching the old control freak codger out a few times. Like just a month or two back when after his first night drinking firewhiskey, Harry finally confided in her the extent of the abuse he suffered by being forced to live with the Dursleys. Still though, through everything Dumbledore was the one man who’d always believed in her. Who defended her against all the attacks and trials. The man who’d given her a home when her mum left her to die in the highlands. Who gave her a job to support herself, even when she was expelled from school over Agaragog. Who commiserated with her when her three soulmates still hadn’t appeared decades and decades down the line (and, loath as she was to admit it, probably never would). Who supported her and gave her the push and opportunity to be a teacher. Her only real friend. Dead. 

The giantess’s eyes misted and she fought against the overwhelming swell of grief and rage. Her throat burned as she fought against the urge to wail, cry or break something. It would do no good, the world was fundamentally unfair. It had already happened and she couldn’t afford to make a scene while she was on the run and trying to lay low. She took another swig of the whiskey, raising a silent toast to her fallen friend. 

Now all that was left was to pick herself up and find a way to move on. Just like always. 

She took another swig.

*************************************************  
Laura Barton groaned loudly, stretching out the sore and overworked muscles of her back. Much as she loved her two bondmates and their two lovely children, there was only so much she could do on her own. Running the farm (even if she hired help for a bunch of the more intense chores) taking care of the kids (on a farm with an unfortunate lack of access to daycare) and worrying over her mates getting shot at (or in Clint’s case, falling off buildings, repeatedly) left her very little time to herself. 

God, she wished their fourth soulmate would show up soon. Hopefully whoever “Rubelia Hagritte” was, she’d at least be happy to take care of the chickens every now and then. Maybe cook a breakfast or two for the kids here and there. A little help and emotional labor please, that’s all she’s asking from the universe. 

Still though, she knew herself and knew her limits. Knew that it was important to take some time every now and then to be an adult with friends and interests outside of her family and farm. Knew that she needed to get out and de-stress or she’d breakdown. That wouldn’t be good for anyone ultimately. 

Especially after the battle of New York. Even now, months later, Clint still woke up screaming from nightmares fairly regularly. Hell, half the time he has at home he spends on the archery range out back working through the guilt eating at him by putting holes in targets. Clint and Natasha’s covert missions may have dried up now that their cover was blown, but holy shit did that not stop them from getting into life threatening situations. Every other day it seemed like some new lunatic was threatening to blow up the world, or assassinate someone important, or just whatever stupid thing that “was an emergency and were sorry, but we can’t sneak off home like we’d planned.” 

Add to that all the appearances, events and parties they were now obligated to attend. Add both spies (but especially Nat’s) increasing paranoia about their little slice of heaven being exposed and bombed by some nutjob with an axe to grind. Add to that Natasha’s need to make sure her helpless baby birds (otherwise known as the rest of the avengers) hadn’t wandered off and gotten themselves killed. Well, add all that together and Laura honestly hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the duo in months.

Fucking exhausting and lonely is what it was. Not that Laura’s clingy or not able to take care of herself. Or that she didn’t understand all their reasons (and agree with most of them). But that didn’t make it any easier to process the emotions.

So, thinking sanity is an excellent thing to keep intact, the housewife had fallen into a small routine. Every other friday or so the housewife called up the lovely, trusted (background checked by Nat herself) retired neighbour lady to watch the kids, and headed out to the little hole in the wall bar in town for a drink. The kids got spoiled with all the movies and sweets they could want. She got to blow off some steam and catch up with the girls around town. Watching non-cartoon TV and cleaning up a few pool tables didn’t hurt either. Win freaking win. 

Grinning, the thin brunette pushed her way past the creaky door of the old building. She gave the bartender an animated wave as she crossed the room. The man grinned and had already started pouring a pint of her usual beer (she and Clint were still in love with shitty IPA’s, much to Nat’s eternal disgust). The housewife took a quick glance around the room. Not seeing any of her closer friends (well, she was a bit early tonight after all) she opted to just grab a stool at the bar and watch the football game for now.

Only, that’s when she noticed that one of these things was clearly not like the others. Nat would be glaring at her over her clearly lacking situational awareness skills and dragging her off for more training if she knew. 

Sitting just a few seats off to the side, quietly sipping a glass of whiskey, was one of the largest women Laura had ever seen. She wasn’t overweight or anything, just tall, broad shouldered and a bit curvy. A messy birdsnest of long salt and pepper black hair was tucked under her ears, spilling over her shoulders and down to her waist (and hell, did Laura want to bury her fingers in those incredibly soft looking locks). Her eyes were a warm brown, ample laugh lines crinckled her face and told a story of a life well lived. Still, there was some...aura about her. Something...worn down and tired, but yet...

Strong. Strong was the word. There was a steel to her spine and defensiveness to her posture. Her thick and worn black leather jacket and brown trousers covered much of her form, but what was there was tantalizing. A hint of strong biceps, and an ample bosom sitting over just a bit of tummy. Big hands, rough from work clutched the glass as she stared off into the distance. Years of accumulated small scars poked out down her forearms and out of her shirt. 

Honestly, the woman, whoever she was, was fucking hot in a buff older biker girl sorta way. Not that that’s what she was. Something was clearly different about her compared to the usual crowd. Laura had some instinct, some deep seated urge to find out what that was. That urge to just know was like an itch under her skin or a pebble in her shoe. Laura knew that she was walking into a long ranting overcautious mother hen lecture from her bondmates about not talking to potentially dangerous strangers. However, she just couldn’t resist the urge to know and found herself sidling into the seat next to the stranger. 

“Hey there, can’t say I’ve seen you around before stranger. How’s it hanging?” Laura asked, feeling a bit sheepish and awkward. First introductions with beautiful ladies had never been her strong suit. Still though, she gave the woman a bright smile to try and put her at ease.

The tall stranger took a second to respond, seemingly not paying full attention to her surroundings. Eventually though she turned to face Laura more fully, her face open, unguarded and showing a breathtaking sort of sadness and vulnerability. With great and obvious effort the woman plastered a big smile on her face, thought it didn’t reach her eyes (and why did that bother Laura so goddamn much? This was a stranger and she was hardly a blushing schoolgirl with a crush).

“I’m okay. Just wandrin’ around trying to clear my head a bit. Wanted to finally explore another country for once. It was time.” The stranger says, her voice a low rumble like the old engines her dad used to work on in his garage. The lovely scottish accent reverberates so pleasantly in her ears she almost misses the ducked eyes and wince hinting that the response was at the very least not the whole truth. Almost. She still has some of the paranoid observational skills Nat and Clint trained into her after all.

“It was time? What time?” Laura asks, her eyes narrowing as the stranger shifts uncomfortably. It’s practically painful watching the woman internally fight with herself over how much to share. Laura’s just about to back off of the clearly uncomfortable subject when the woman practically blurts out her response.

“Time for a fresh start I mean. The headmaster at the school I taught at, uh, died recently.” The woman says, pausing briefly to stare off forlornly into space. Clearly whoever this headmaster was meant a lot to her. Laura had to resist the irrational urge to comfortingly wrap her fingers over the woman's hand. 

“Kinda, um, lost meh job after. The new administration is, uh, well lets just say we have some differences of opinion on some key subjects. Didn’t feel right to really stay after.” The stranger says, finishing her explanation with a grimace and a hasty slurp of whiskey. 

And oh, did that not make Laura’s caretaker instincts start to scream at her. The phrases, fix it fix it fix it and give hugs, they make everything better were blaring through her mind. Which was honestly a bit of a weird feeling. Despite Clint’s bratty snickering, Laura was not, in fact, a terrible mother hen. Well, at least not until she knew and connected with a person. Puzzled, she realized she’d been staring off into space like a loon. 

“I’m real sorry to hear that. Change is always tough, especially with loss. Mind if I ask how long your planning on sticking around here? I’m happy to talk or show you around if you want some help settling in.” Laura finally says.

A great big and very real smile practically lights up the strangers face. It’s tired and a little wan, but the genuine warmth and gratefulness makes Laura’s heart melt. Blushing, she has to force herself to keep paying attention rather than just grinning like a loon for making the woman so obviously happy. 

“Oh er, thas a real fine offer Ma’am. It means a lot to meh. I erhm, don’t really have a plan. I kinda just...grabbed the first, what’s the american word for it, erhm aeroplane without really looking where I was going. Thought I’d leave the adventure up to fate.” The stranger says, blushing and looking sheepish at the lack of foresight. Something about the story tweaks at Laura’s instincts. It’s rather flimsy really, though her perspective might be skewed. Do people really just pick up and move without a plan, job or city waiting for them? Clint or Natasha certainly might, but superspy’s are not regular people at a bar in Iowa. 

“Do you at least have somewhere to stay? A room somewhere? Maybe I can show you around tomorrow?” Laura asks, frowning a bit. 

“Er, not uh, not really no. I’ll figure something out though, it’ll be fine.” The woman says, awkwardly blushing and scratching the back of her head nervously. Something fearful deep in the pit of Laura’s stomach tugs at her. The thought that the woman basically seems to be planning on camping outside in the cold just hurts her inside. The housewife finds herself contemplating something absolutely anathema to every cautious instinct she has. Still though, she’s a grown woman with sense enough not to invite strange women around her kids.

“You sure? Maybe I could ask around, maybe get you a room at the motel or something? Laura pressed. The woman looked a bit hesitant and awkward, worrying her lip a bit before responding. Like she wanted to reach out, but just didn’t feel she could. 

“No, I really shouldn’t. I’ll figure it out one way or another. It’s really not a big deal.” She replied, stubbornly scrunching up her face.

Laura sighed, accepting that the woman would be a stubborn ox about it for whatever reason. “Well, then stranger, I could maybe give you my phone number? If you ever change your mind, It’s no trouble, I have a farm just up the road. I might have to find somebody to mind the kids, but I’m around.” She said. 

The woman gave her another one of those sun bright warm smiles that made butterflies flutter through Laura’s stomach. “Much appreciated. Your very kind, and it was lovely to meet you. The names Rubelia, though most people call me Hagritte. For some reason my last name just seems to stick in people’s heads no matter what I do.” The woman, Rubelia said, sticking out a calloused hand to shake, smiling brightly.

...and just like that Laura felt like she’d been punched in the gut, the air whooshing out of her lungs. It probably took a good thirty seconds of her staring, poleaxed at Rubelia’s outstretched hand before the woman’s increasingly confused frown knocked some sense back into her. 

“Rubelia Hagritte is your name?” Laura asked dumbly. The woman nodded, but adorably tilted her head like a confused dog. The housewife groaned inwardly at her awkwardness.

“Would the names Clinton Francis Barton and Natalia Alianova Romanova happen to mean anything to you?” Laura asked, completely failing at sounding casual. 

Rubelia’s eyebrows shot practically into her hairline. Her entire face morphing into hesitant hope and nervousness. Slowly nodding her head Rubelia lifted the cuff of her outstretched right arm and slowly turned the inside of her wrist up. Laura’s eyes widened at the three lines of tattooed words on her skin. 

Natalia Alianova Romanova in a blood red, yet elegant cursive script.  
Clinton Francis Barton in unmistakably messy set of purple block letters.  
Laura Smith in Laura’s own neat black scrawl. 

Laura sucked in a shocked breath, her hand almost unconsciously reaching out to touch the beautiful words. Her words, their words, on their soulmate. The person who would finally complete their quad dynamic. A jolt went through her when their skin grazed each other, causing Rubelia to jerk her arm back hastily. An expression of utter shock and disbelief etched itself on Rubelia’s face. Frankly, the woman looked just about ready to bolt or have a heart attack she was so keyed up and nervous. Having some sense in her head, Laura decided to put the woman out of her misery. 

“Hi Rubelia, I’m Laura Smith, though I took Clint’s last name when we got married. Nice to finally meet our last soulmate!” She said, a cheeky grin on her face as she pulled down the collar of her T-Shirt to show off her own set of words just above her breast. 

Rubelia’s eyes locked onto the blocky runic etching of her name on Laura’s skin and let out an adorable little squeal (especially amusing coming out of such a large woman). Honest to god, the woman’s eyes sparkled happily, even as a few stray happy tears spilled down her face. She was babbling, wiping her eyes and apologizing for being such a sap the entire time. Laura couldn’t help but grin at her antics, even as she skewered the woman with a harsh stare.

“You know what this means don’t you?” Laura asked.

“...n-no?” Rubelia said tremulously. 

“Your going to come home, meet the family and we’ll figure it out. No buts, arguments or I’ll be fine’s missy. I get more than enough of that with Clint and Nat already” The housewife said, Mom voice in full effect. 

Rubelia could only nod sheepishly as Laura leapt to her feet and started dragging her from the bar, drinks entirely forgotten.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rubelia and Laura settle in and get to know each other. Clint and Nat get a briefing about trouble brewing and Laura makes a call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I was just enjoying some writing on my holiday, have a yule present, hope you enjoy!

The night was cool and quiet, though far from silent. Rubelia’s heavy boots crunched on the gravel road. Her giddy bouncing step echoed in time with Laura’s excited but more sedate strides as they walked back to the farmstead. Laura’s midwest twang mixed with the soft night sounds of chirping bugs. The housewife grinned widely as she told Rubelia all about the life she’d built with her two bondmates. 

Laura tells her of the old two story farmhouse Clint had worked for years on renovating and expanding whenever his work let him get away. How fields of apple trees and grapevines provide the main income of the farm. How they later added a small flock of chickens, and a herd of goats to add some variety to their diet and product. How their oldest child, Cooper, just turned 10 and loves to read, while their youngest, Lila, is starting school at the end of the summer. How both were born before Clint met Natasha on a business trip, and they’ve been thinking of having another kid but plans are on hold until their work schedule calms down. 

If Rubelia notices an odd look of hesitation come over Laura’s face for a moment as she talks about the business trip, she’s far too excited to care. It all sounds like...a wonderful dream to her. Full of warmth, love and acceptance she’s only dreamed of. 

Honestly a part of her has trouble grasping that the group has managed to integrate all three soulmates into the romantic relationship. Poly soulmates were very, very rare in the wizarding world (and not at all looked at favorably). She’s heard more than a few earfuls about how unstable, chaotic or just plain immoral the relationship would be if and when she ever bonded with her soulmates. More of them on the ‘if’ side if she’s honest. People always seemed unreasonably eager to inform her how unlikely it was someone as “homely” (her word, not theirs) as her would have anything other than platonic soulmates. That’s if they would even care enough to talk to her, and not run screaming for the hills when they realized their soulmate was part “dark creature” (and isn’t that term a loaded one). 

Well, if she hadn’t been convinced the wizarding world was full of utter shite over Umbridge and the ministries denial of you-know-who’s return, tonight would have done it. There’s an absolutely stunning bright doe eyed smile seemingly permanently lighting up Laura’s face. Her warm brown eyes are positively twinkling. It’s there when she talks of her mates with so much love and when she proudly beams over her children. The strength of it banishes her worries (at least temporarily) and leaves a warm, steady, thrumming pulse all throughout the giantess’ core. 

Rubelia’s already feeling a bit of the soulbond. Her fingers are starting to itch, just slightly as she desires more and more to simply reach out and touch the other woman. To hold her, and cuddle close and just be together in the same space. Though, of course, conversations need to happen prior to that, and the giantess is far too exhausted for them at present. 

Still, a bright burning ember of hope for a better future seems like it’s flaring to life out of the ashes of Rubelia’s life. Not a stable fire or even a true flame yet. It could very easily be snuffed out by a hint of opposing wind but it’s there. It’s enough to help her steady herself and her nerves as she follows Laura up the dark gravel drive to the farmhouse. 

...It flares just that little bit more when Laura flashes her a saucy wink as she mentions the reno Clint did on the bedroom recently. Apparently, they added a custom made bed specifically to have space for the entire trio to cuddle with room in mind for for one more… and likewise added an extra large hot tub for them all to soak together. Rubelia tries very hard, but is utterly unsuccessful at preventing herself from bursting into a fit of choking embarrassed laughter. Or at hiding the deep scarlet blush when she lets her eyes wander, just for a second, to picture Laura’s soft curves in said bath. 

...at least her silly schoolgirl blushing and stuttering seems to amuse Laura. The barked laugh and utterly unrepentant smirk at Rubelia’s discomfort is just shy of mischievous. Still, it makes her smile. Her emotions are a bundle of warmth and contentedness and hope (and maybe a little horniness) even as they open the door to the house and Laura sends the babysitter on home. 

“Looks like the kids are already in bed, which means we should probably try and be quiet to avoid waking them. Do you want to maybe grab a shower and wash some of the airplane off you sweetheart?” Laura says casually. As if just that unselfconscious endearment didn’t just cause Rubelia’s world to shift on its axis. As if such endearments are so common and expected to not be worth thinking about. As if Rubelia isn’t having trouble remembering the last time somebody has used an endearment to address her before (later she’ll realize it was a few years back when she’d stopped by a muggle breakfast cafe with a warmly welcoming waitress while on an errand, and doesn’t that say something about the sorry state of the wizarding world).

Feeling her throat swell shut with emotion, it’s all the giantess can do to flash a grateful smile and nod at her soulmate. Following her upstairs she’s led into the master bath. Laura pushes a towel and a box of toiletries they keep around for guests into her arms and scurries out of the room. Her mate promising to see if she can find Rubelia something of Clint’s that might fit her to sleep in. 

It takes some fiddling, but eventually the giantess manages to flick on the showerhead over the gorgeous oversized custom whirlpool tub. Seconds later she’s moaning in absolute bliss as the hot water pours over bruised and overworked muscles. Cleaning charms are nice sure, but they really only get dirt off. Not the built up sweat, and they do nothing at all for the aches and pains that come from fleeing the death eaters. If she has to occasionally grit her teeth as soap gets into the odd cut or gash every so often, well that’s a price she’s more than willing to pay. The water temperature and pressure are absolutely _divine_ and far better than the little tub she had to fill with buckets from a hand crank in her old cottage.

Rubelia has just finished up in the shower when the door creaks open. “Hey sweetheart, I managed to find an extra baggy set of PJ’s from the last time Clint was laid up in the hospi-” Laura says, as Rublia spins in surprise to face her, nude but for the towel draped over her shoulders. The housewife’s explanation is cut off by her own startled squeak. “S-Sorry, I uh, was on a bit of autopilot like I’d normally do with Clint or Nat. I didn’t mean to b-barge in.” The housewife stammers out, a faint blush colour both of their cheeks. 

It’s a few seconds before Laura’s eyes sweep down for a second, her face falling into a worried frown. She let out a pained hiss as she took in the full extent of Rubelia’s injuries. It was far from a pretty picture. Her upper body was riddled with fresh angry bruises from a hail of stunning spells. A smattering of several inch long thin slices curled over her breasts and across her shoulder. Luckily, her giant blood gave her a degree of resilience to most combat spells so she hadn’t broken anything, but she did look sorta like she went 12 rounds with a grizzly.

“You’re... you’re hurt? H-how? Fuck, jesus, shit that looks bad. Hang on, sit your ass down and I’ll get the first aid kit.” Laura said, making a motion to the edge of the tub and stepping quickly to rummage under the sink. 

Mind spinning, Rubelia tried to think through how she’s going to play off looking like she just got out of a warzone without breaking the statute of secrecy. Unfortunately, she was always a bit crap at thinking on her feet and she hadn’t really prepared an excuse. Till right this second she’d assumed nobody was going to be seeing her naked anytime soon. Plus, she could feel the warmth of the soulbond itching over her skin like an eager puppy nuzzling her leg. Asking her to open up, to confide in her mate and thereby deepen their bond. As much as she absolutely could not give Laura all the details (and hell as much as the order would be pissed at her for sharing anything) she decided she didn’t want to lie completely. 

“Laura, I’m okay, please don’t worry. I heal fast, believe me, I’ve been in worse scrapes dozens of times. I’ll be f-” Rubelia starts saying, cutting herself off when Laura sticks an accusing finger in her face. 

“Ruby, if the next goddamn phase out of your mouth is ‘you’ll be fine’, I swear to god I’m going to scream. You are not goddamn fine, so I’m going to take care of you. Now, tell me what happened while I patch those nasty cuts up.” Laura says, pinning the giantess with an intimidating glare. 

The giantess squirmed under the harsh glare before giving Laura a quick nod to go ahead. Her touch was gentle, though clinical enough to ignore the whole naked elephant in the room. After a second, Rubelia blinked a couple times as a thought occurred to her. “Ruby. I hadn’t thought of that, before...I kinda like it.” She said. Laura paused her ministrations briefly to give the giantess a brief smile before sobering. 

“Sweetheart, I just...I don’t mean to be overbearing, but you are our soulmate. It looks like you’ve been through something really rough, and I’d like to help in any way I can. If you really don’t want to talk about it I’m not going to force you. Just...our family has extensive history dealing with traumatic events and believe me, not talking about it and not accepting for help doesn’t help anybody.” The house wife says, giving Ruby an imploring look. 

“It’s not- I don’t mean to- I wanna talk about it, but it’s hard to know how much I can really tell yeh and I don’t want to lie.” Ruby said, looking a bit sheepish and winced as Laura started dabbing disinfectant on the largest cut. 

“Okay, I can work with that. Nat and Clint work in some pretty high level security stuff and a lot of it is classified. I’m no stranger to people having secrets. Just give me the high level overview of whatever you can. Who did that to you? Is there a danger of it happening again? Have they been prosecuted? What happened in general?”

“Well, hmm, I guess I should to mention yeh that I...I maybe glossed over the extent of meh grievances with the new administration at the school I was teaching at.” Ruby said, smiling wanly at Laura’s unsurprised nod.

“I uh...the community I’m from in the UK is very...uh, insular. I can’t really tell you much about it. Though I’m not exactly...of the proper heritage according to most of em. The faction that took over, uh, thinks people of meh ancestry are, well, wrong, or not really properly human. I was...encouraged to leave...or else. I scarpered...before they got to something more permanent.” Ruby explains, her voice cracking with emotion as she tried to hold herself together.

A warm set of arms moved to wrap around the giantesses shoulders as Laura pulled her into a crushing hug. Suddenly, all of it, all the crap she’s gone through today, the pain and the heartbreak and the catharsis of finally meeting one of her soulmates is just to much to process. She’s not sure who started first (Laura’s eyes had most definitely gone glassy and sad even as Ruby was explaining) but their heads are burrowed in each others warm shoulders and both women are bawling. 

Long, ugly snuffling sobs echoed through the small space (Laura is later grateful for the thick soundproof walls between their bathroom and the kids rooms) as they desperately held onto each other. Ruby for surviving and somehow finding another chance in this place far away from her old life. Laura for realizing how close they came to not having their last soulmate ever be part of their life. 

Long minutes passed by as they slowly quieted and the emotion subsided. Slowly Ruby felt herself just melting into Laura’s embrace. The itching of the soulbond between them settled down, contented at the touch. This close, in direct skin to skin contact, Ruby could already feel a bit of what Laura was feeling over the bond. Mostly just a vague but lifting negative emotion. Probably some combination of relief and sadness. She knew as they grew closer the bond would flesh out and that sense of each others emotions would grow. Become more precise and extend beyond just when they were directly touching. Still though, to be feeling it so early was definitely a great sign, and Ruby couldn’t help but feel a conflicted sort of happiness over it despite everything.

Eventually Laura stood back and wiped her eyes. “Thank you for telling me sweetheart. I’m so sorry that happened. If you don’t mind, how likely is it that they’ll try to find you again?” She said, going back to finish bandaging up the last of Ruby’s cuts. 

Rubelia thought for a moment before answering. “In all honesty, I should be fine as long as I don’t go back to Scotland. They have more than enough going on in their little slice of the world for them to care about me. Plus none of them really know how the rest of the world works, so I can’t imagine they’d be able to find me even if they tried.” The giantess eventually responded, frowning as she realized the wizarding world truly wasn’t her home anymore. 

Laura smiled, her face full of relief and sadness at that. “Well, that’s something good I suppose. Looks like I’m just finished up with these, so we should probably think about sleeping arrangement. I...I think I’d feel better if I had you close tonight, though I don’t want to pressure you before you’re ready. Either way I should step out and give Clint and Nat a call. I’m sure they’ll want to meet you as soon as possible.” The brunette explained. 

“I think I’d like that- if...if it’s not too much of a imposition that is!” Ruby said, blushing just a bit at the thought of sleeping together with Laura. 

“Absolutely not a imposition. Give me a few minutes to give them a call and I’ll be right in.”

*********************************************  
Clint and his lovely soulmate Natasha were bone tired, both physically and emotionally. The pair of spies had just gotten back from a several week long undercover mission. Intel had it that a human trafficking ring in Russia had managed to acquire Chitauri relics from the battle of New York and was conducting human trials to further weaponize them. Ordinarily SHIELD would hand off intel on similar smuggling rings to the other agencies, but well, when those organizations got their hands on the weird and the dangerous, SHIELD it was. 

It was almost certain that the shit they’d seen on mission would haunt both of their dreams for the next week. Nat’s more than Clint honestly. Memories of the red room were never that far from the surface for her. Some of those they’d rescued reminded them both entirely too much of a 5 year old redheaded girl, kidnapped decades ago from her home to become a brainwashed assassin. Still, all they wanted was a nice long shower, maybe a chance to give Laura a call (what would they even do without her besides fall apart after all) and to pass out for a day in their bunk. Regardless of all that though, duty calls and Fury had a briefing he wanted all of the Avengers present at. 

They were sitting in a large conference room on the helicarrier. Steve, Tony and Bruce were spread out on the other side. Thor was currently off world, though Tony was trying to get his attention with a giant sign on top of Stark tower. They hadn’t been there long before Fury, in all his trenchcoat wearing eyepatchy glory burst through the door, Hill at his feet. 

“Team, thank you for coming.” He greeted curtly, nodding to the assembled Avengers. 

“Yes, yes dread pirate Roberts, we’re all here, good little soldiers just like you wanted. Tell us what’s up so I can go back home to Pep and enjoy lounging with her by the pool.” Tony snarked out, grinning at the frustrated pop of the vein on Fury’s forehead (practically permanent when Tony was about).

“Indeed. I’ll be brief, but I will remind everyone that what is discussed today is Avengers level clearance only.” Fury said briefly, before glaring at Tony in particular, waiting for him to nod his agreement before continuing.

“The information I’m giving you today is generally only known to heads of state, or leaders of intelligence agencies. Loki was not our first experience with magic. There exist communities of human magic users, complete with wands, robes and fucking pointy fucking hats, all around the world. They consider themselves an entirely separate society from us. They self govern, self police, and maintain strict standards of secrecy. Anyone stumbling on that not cleared to know about them is immediately ‘obliviated.’ Meaning a spell is cast to remove that knowledge from their brain.” Fury explained before Hill flicked on a video showing a security feed from a SHIELD safehouse. 

The agent involved was sitting nursing post battle wounds when a dark robed figure popped into frame and pointed a long stick at the agents head. The words were garbled on the low quality audio, but it was only seconds later before a flash exploded from the tip of the stick and the agent slumped in his chair unconscious. “Agent Hendrickson here came across a pair of wizards dueling on a routine mission. He didn’t know what he saw, but they still took his memories of the entire mission...and the preceding month before hand. It’s not pretty, or clean.” Fury continued. 

Tony, predictably was guffawing at the very idea of magic, huffing about it’s impossibility. Steve and Bruce merely looked confused and concerned. 

“Why inform us at all, and why now? Why are we here director?” Clint asked, hoping to get to the point so he and Nat could go crash. 

Fury turned, giving Clint his full attention before flicking on another video clip. This one was low quality footage from a civilian phone camera. It showed a large group of people on brooms flying through downtown London. Though it was grainy, one even seemed to be riding a flying motorcycle. Billowing black clouds of smoke chased them. Sickly green, bright red and eery blue balls of light flew and zinged between them. Slowly they broke off and dispersed into individual chases before disappearing from view. 

“A week ago in London, mere miles from the center of government for the British wizarding society, this attack and chase occured. We don’t know the players involved or why it occurred. The mages never told anyone more than the barest fact that they exist and what they would do if we let that fact slip.” Fury said, pausing for a second before Steve cut in.

“So why not let the mages clean up whatever this was? Surely they’re going to want to make sure those memories are erased?”

“A fair point Rogers, but moot. Since the attack, there has been literally no contact possible with anyone in British magical society. No obliviators were sent out to clean up their mess and all members of their ministry aren’t picking up their phones or answering their doors. Frankly the mages were lucky a SHIELD team was nearby to contain the situation for them.” Fury said, taking in the confused frowns of the team before cutting to the heart of the matter.

“Ladies and gentlemen, think of it this way. A possible terrorist attack occurred just outside a major government building. Since then, what amounts to a rogue nation state with access to unknown weapons of possible mass destruction has gone completely silent. No word. No first responders out to the scene. Absolutely nothing. Replace the wizarding world with North Korea and are we terrified of the implications? Hell the fuck yes.” Fury explained, his words dropping like a bomb as the rest of the team sucked in a breath. 

“As this most definitely falls under the purview of weird, SHIELD has been tasked with finding more information on what’s occured and conducting a proper threat assessment. I want you all to be careful, we have little idea what they are capable of and don’t want to poke the bear if it's not what we think, but this is a priority. Barton, Romanoff, take 48 hours leave since your just back from your mission and even I can see your dead on your feet. Dismissed.” Fury said as he stood up and strode out of the room. 

Hill paused before following him to flick up onto the scene a series of composite images they had managed to pull together of the players in the attack. They were very blurry, but at least it gave them some sense of who to start looking for. Clint found his eyes gravitating to the big goggle clad woman riding the motorcycle for some reason, but pushed it from his mind.

Shooting Nat a look the pair strode off the find their bunk. They had just flopped down together onto the hard mattress when their attention was grabbed by a ringing phone. Specifically, the private extra phone they kept hidden under lock and key in their bunk that connected only to Laura. Flipping it open Clint noticed two or three missed calls already before they’d walked into the room. Frowning he swiped it unlocked, answered and set it to speakerphone. 

“Clint? Nat?” Laura asked, sounded oddly...fragile. Alarm bells went off in both spies minds as they stiffened and prepared for anything. 

 

“Yeah milaya, it’s us. What’s wrong? Did something happen to Lila or Cooper?” Nat said, her tone even and level, even though Clint could tell she was extremely worried over the soulbond. 

“Oh thank god. It’s nothing like that but I just… I’m kinda freaking out a bit here and you guys should try to come home whenever you can.” Their soulmate said, her voice shaking. 

Truly worried now, the pair of spies shot each other a look, silently agreeing that whatever this was they’d try and get back to support her. Even it was brief.

“We’re just on 48 hours leave actually. We could get an unregistered quinjet and be there in a couple hours. What’s going on that has you so worried?” Clint offered, trying to not stress out their mate even more. 

“I uh, I kinda found Rubelia actually.” At that both spies jaws dropped and their eyebrows hit their hairlines. Clint could feel shocked happiness coming from, hell, he wasn’t sure if it was him or Nat but it was strong. 

“-Literally just ran into her at the pub as she was on her way through town. I didn’t realize it until I accidentally barged in on her, but Clint, the sweetheart looks like she was mauled by a bear or something. She’s being mum on details, but apparently she was beat up pretty bad in some sort of hate crime. She’s homeless now Clint. Apparently lost her job and felt she needed to flee the country for her safety and I am just a little overwhelmed right now and could use some help.” Laura explained, her voice shaky. Both spies moods darkened as she went on.

“Milaya, were on our way, we’ll be there in a few hours. We’ll fix this.” Natasha said, her voice stony and determined. Clint could not agree more.

“Perfect. Thanks for listening and I love you both. See you soon!” Laura responded before hanging up, her voice positively radiating relief.

Both spies jumped up and practically run through the door, already making plans.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby makes a new friend and meets the rest of her soulmates. 
> 
> Shenanigans happen. One old goat is very much not amused by Clint's shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bleeeerrr, sorry my lovely readers. I wish I could post more often than I have been, but hot diggity daffodils start of term has been crazy. Plus I've been sick so my brain has been a bit mush. Hope you guys like the chapter though!

Cracking her eyes open to the dawning light, Ruby stretched with a groan. Only, she started, surprised at the grumbling sound beside her. Glancing down, she couldn't help but crack a smile when she noticed the woman pillowed on her shoulder. Laura mostly asleep and complaining about being so rudely jostled in the morning. She must have shifted in the night, since they had gone to sleep on opposite sides of the bed, intending to give each other space since the connection was so new. Not that she was complaining a single iota. Idly, the half giant started carding her fingers through the gorgeous brunette’s hair, a low pleased rumble in her throat sufficing to lull the woman back to a restful sleep. 

Sitting there and just...being...content... took all of Rubelia's attention for a good ten minutes. Eventually though she started wondering about what woke her up. The sun was barely peeking through the window and the bedside clock read 5:30am. While she had slept deeply and well (surprising given the trials of fleeing Hogwarts), it had barely been a scant few hours since the pair of women had gotten back from the bar. Sure, it was the time she would usually get up and start checking on the animals at Hogwarts, but she thought the time change and exhaustion would have had more of an impact. Dimly she recalled that giants tended to be more crepuscular and active during the Twilight hours, so maybe it wasn't so surprising she's be so absolutely awake right no-

That was the moment that her brain turned on fully and the niggling thought that was actually pushing her awake from the back of her subconscious took root. It went a little something like this: “Oh shite damn fuck mothering bollocks. Laura had mentioned she would be meeting her other soulmates any goddamn minute now. Oh, and she’s meeting their kids too, and maybe sortof moving in?!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. WHAT DO I DO?”

Fuck.

And suddenly Ruby was very, very _very_ awake. Adrenaline and energy were pumping full force as her nerves kicked in. Her feet, her arms, hell her whole body itched to move, to run, to just do _something._ Quickly she realized that as nice as cuddling with Laura was, her agitation was going to start seriously bothering the woman in a bare few seconds. As slowly and carefully as possible she began the process of extricating herself from the bed. She was...mostly successful. Laura did half wake up and sleepily grumble at her some more, but a quick “going to the washroom and for a walk, be back soon” had the woman nodding and falling back asleep. 

Not that getting out of the house was smooth sailing house after that. The farmhouse was old, even renovated as it was. Every few steps had Ruby cursing under her breath as her heavy feet stomped on creaky floor boards, or grumbling as her broad shoulders bumped off the just slightly too thin door jams. Still though, she did actually get her big leather boots on, slipped into her clothes from yesterday (quickly run through the wash and hung up to dry overnight) and did actually get outside without waking up the kids (she hopes at least, waking them up at dawn was probably not the best way to be introduced to them).

Full of nervous energy, her long strides chewed through the dirt as she paced away from the house. She needed something to do, something to move, something to occupy her hands and her mind. Luckily, soft bleating sounds by the barn a ways away from the the house eventually provided the answer. Despite soulmate shenanigans, the daily rhytic of animals continued and they still had to be cleaned up after and fed. 

The woman made a beeline for the pen of goats as the animals had started sleepily filing out of their evening enclosure. She began to grin as a series of warm, lazy presences started popping up at the back of her mind as she got closer. Most were simply tired, or curious about the new person approaching their territory. A few were hungry and one in particular became wary and a bit ornery as the half-giant briefly walked by the edge of the enclosure for a second. After disappearing into the barn to rummage around for feed and cleaning supplies she came back to the fence. Glancing around, Ruby eventually found the offending presence: An aging female black goat with silver in her fur, dangerous looking curved horns and a mean glare on her face. 

Thinking for a second, she tried to parse through the feelings she was getting and read the goats body language. The coiled muscles and head dipping to showcase her horns gave away the game. The half-giant realized the old nannie probably saw herself as something of the matriarch or protector to the younger flock. Ruby was an unknown interloper intruding on her family’s home, with a serious and threatening size advantage to boot. She knew it was only reasonable for her to get agitated and cautious around the woman. 

See, there was a reason that the half-giant had managed to be the grounds and animal keeper at Hogwarts for so very, very many years. A reason that she’d survived and thrived at the highly dangerous job (at the best of times) with little to no formal training after her wand was snapped. Whereas highly educated professor after professor teaching “Care of Magical Animals” resigned within a few years to “spend more quality time with their remaining limbs” (as Dumbledore put it anyway). She had a bit of a gift, an...affinity and empathy for animals you might say. It wasn’t like she could read their minds or speak with them or anything near as fancy as parseltongue. She just...got a few vague impressions about how they were feeling, and could send back equally vague emotions to signal her intents. 

If you asked any of the more traditionalist theoretic wizards, they’d scoff their noses at you. Magic was magic, spells were spells and that’s all there was to it. Say the words, do the motions, picture the right things and everybody gets the same results. Well, they were absolutely wrong. People did occasionally have a few specific gifts or affinities that their magical cores were particularly well suited for. Rubelia’s just happened to be helpful for tending and interacting with animals.

Though, don’t even fucking get Ruby started on the far more idiotic wizards of the species realist movement. That argued that such differences were distributed across species and that that _obviously_ explains why dark creatures were dark, evil, vicious and/or stupid. Utter horseshite really. Ruby may technically be part dark creature (and thus “biased” as she had been informed on more that one occasion), but the term was stupid and prejudiced. Hell, she’d been treated with more kindness, care and thoughtful compassion by the vampires, werewolves, sentient spiders, trolls and giants in her life than any of those fucking pureblooded realist bastards ever did. 

And that’s really saying something, considering her momma’s clan abandoned her as the runt of the litter to die on the highlands. At least with that there was a decent practical necessity to it, even if it was cruel. Food was scarce (always was with the wizards restricting hunting territories) and they just couldn’t feed all the mouths on what the hunters were bringing in. Better to drive off the few mouths least likely to contribute than have the whole clan suffer and starve. Better than stinking blind prejudice and hate, poorly veiled with a poorly thought out academic justification. 

All this to say, Ruby decided she in fact, didn’t want to be gored on goat horns before meeting her soulmates. So, she knew she had to be careful in how she entered the pen. She knelt down low to the ground, hunched her body in on itself to make herself small and gave the orney beast a respectful bowed nod. Slowly, she shifted to display her open palms for the animal to sniff. Patiently she did her best to project non-threatening calm, respect and a desire to help over their magical connection as she waited for the animal to walk over and inspect her. The stare off was tense for a few moments and Ruby was careful not to stare her in the eyes challengingly. 

Eventually though, the standoff was over. The goat gave a soft bleat, dipped her head respectfully and wandered over to give the woman a a couple welcoming licks on the hands. Rubelia grinned and gave her a couple scritches in response before she stood up and entered the pen to get to work.

Quickly she got lost in the familiar motions of the daily routine. The slight burn in her arms as she lifted the heavy feed buckets to lay out breakfast for the goats. The careful steps as she explored the enclosure to muck out the previous day's waste. Grinning widely as the flock slowly got to know and interact with her. Her work was interrupted practically every few seconds by an adorably inquisitive kid sniffing her leg that just _had_ to be given all the pets and cuddles in the world. Not to mention all the times a kid would start gently butting her shin in a clear invitation to play and chase them around. Within a few minutes she was grinning and laughing like a fool, even as she still tried (vaguely at least) to get the morning chores done.

Ruby was so lost in the simple movements and the warm, happy feelings of the flock that she entirely missed what was going on around her. Really, mad eye would have her head about her lack of constant vigilance (not that he was here, or that her soulmates’ farm was the most worrisome place she'd ever visited). Too used to strange noises at Hogwarts she completely missed the high pitched whine of an approaching jet landing barely a mile away on the other end of the property. As well as the rumble of a car approaching the farmhouse. 

“I'm honestly not sure what's more impressive. That Laura already has our soulmate doing chores around the house, or that you managed to get into the pen without pissing Yulia off.” A low sultry voice purred out from the edge of the fence behind Rubelia's. Utterly surprised and caught off guard, the giantess jumped and spun from where she was working to face the newcomer. Only, the mud was slippery and her center of balance was too high and unbalanced. She slipped and flung her leg out awkwardly, windmilling her arms in a fruitless search for balance. 

And so it was, that one Rubelia Hagritte had possibly the most clutzy meeting of soulmates in history. On her ass, sat in mud (or maybe goat crap, her brain wasn’t really running well enough to tell) completely out of sorts, hair flying every which way and utterly flabergasted. 

And with her brain to mouth filter absolutely not working. 

“Sweet merlin motherin _fuck_ how are yeh both so pretty.” Ruby said after blinking dumbly a few times. She was, frankly, struck dumb by the man and woman both leaning on the end of the pen. Both of which had matching mischievous smirks on their faces as they chortled impishly at her discomfiture. On the right was a stunning redhead, with wavy soft hair just down past her chin and eyes the most mesmerising shade of green Ruby had ever seen. On the left was a taller, broader guy with short sandy blonde hair and a grey eyed stare that saw far too much of the world. Both were lean, athletic and wearing in the most amazingly form hugging black tacsuits. Some part of her noted the (potentially) alarming presence of a variety of muggle firearms and knives around their waists.

...but if she’s honest, most of Ruby’s mind was entirely occupied utterly gaping at the deliciously buff biceps of the man (presumably Clint) and the tantalizing curve of the woman’s (presumably Natasha) thighs. Thank merlin for muggle fashion sense is all she’s saying. To hell with robes. Who needs em. Burn em in a fire. 

“Oh, well aren’t you just such a sweetheart. Clint, I think she likes us, don’t you?” Nat said, her bright tone sending shivers down the giantess’ spine.

“I think she does Tasha, I think she does. And I for one and beyond glad you and Laura have another cutie patootie to be your chewtoy.” Clint said back brattily, shooting the redhead a cheeky grin. The love and humor that practically radiated off the man made it impossible for the giantess not to crack a grin right along with him.

Only, the effect that comment had on the redhead was very much different and completely captivated Ruby. Her eyes got all blown wide and stormy, and her voice got low and sultry as the redhead leaned in real close to pull the man in to her chest. 

“Now now darling, let's not get ahead of ourselves. These things take time and negotiation after all.” The woman said, practically purring into Clint’s ear. Her voice and smoldering stare tieng Ruby’s crotch in all sorts of fiery knots. The feeling only amplified when Natasha leant in real close to Clint’s neck and, all without breaking that intense eye contact, sunk her teeth into the man’s neck. Ruby watched, transfixed as the muscled man moaned wantonly and went limp and pliant in Natasha’s grip. 

Merlin blessed, that might just have been the hottest thing Ruby had seen in her goddamn life. Something about the sight of the clearly powerful man just letting go, of the trust and power so clearly on display just lit an absolute fire in Rubelia. The giantess could practically feel her panties soaking and knew without a doubt that her face was flushed crimson red. Overwhelmed, she knew she should probably do something (maybe get up and out of the goat pen for one) but her legs felt like jelly as she watched Natasha card her elegant fingers through Clints hair. Watched Clint lean into her, open and trusting as he turned to her for a passionate kiss.

And jerked in surprise right along with both her new mates when Laura’s whipcrack voice broke the tense air like a bolt from the blue. 

“Clint Francis Barton, Natalia Romanova, is now really the appropriate time and the goat pen really the appropriate place to be making out like horny teenagers. I mean honestly. I get that Ruby’s absolutely adorable and you wanna show off, but you’re goddamn spies for Chrissake. Stop teasing the woman and come in for breakfast or no pancakes for either of you.” The housewife barked, pinning the pair with a glare as they shuffled awkwardly. Her point was accented by the old ornery goat bleating in annoyance and clomping a hoof on the ground, clearly unamused by the shenanigans going on much to close to her domain. 

“Awww, Laur, no! It ain’t like that, we were just saying hi to our lovely mate, nothing untoward was goin on. Honest!” Clint said, waving his arms and leaning on the fence. Laura’s face shot him a dangerous glare as she let him wither and squirm for a few seconds. Only, the standoff was broken by a yelp and a groan of pain from Clint as a small furry body crashed into and headbutted him on the behind (precariously close to ye olde family jewels). Jumping away and spinning, he shot a dirty look at the older grumpy goat as he rubbed his bruised ass. 

“Goddammit Yulia. You my friend, are one evil ass goat. I swear, every time we have to clean this goddamn pen you try to nutshot me. You’re just lucky we haven’t needed any glue recently. And that your kids are so cute.” Clint grumbled, tone light and joking as he hobbled back a few more steps. 

Ruby couldn’t help it as she cracked up and started laughing uproariously. Finally gathering her wits about her, she eventually managed to heave herself up to her feet and clomp over to the gate. Briefly she knelt down to give Yulia a series of enthusiastic pets as she cooed to her softly to ease her ruffled feathers and reassure her that no harm would come to her flock while she was here. Within a few seconds the older animal was bleating happily, and was firmly (not to mention pointedly) ignoring Clint and the rest of the assembled humans in favor of nuzzling into Rubelia’s hand. Eventually she turned from giving Yulia a big enthusiastic belly rub to look over at her makes who had the weirdest shocked expression on their faces as they watched her. Like she had drunk one of the weasleys’ silly potions and had now grown a second head. Or started breathing fire.

“What?! She’s a sweet old girlie just lookin after her family. And she resents any unjust accusations of evilness to the contrary. Filthy lies and slander!” Ruby joked, smirking as their shocked expressions morphed into more amused and adoring.

“Oooh, she’s adorable, a bit sassy and good with animals. Looks like we got the whole package here girls!” Clint said, giving Rubelia a clear up and down appraising ogle. If the intent stare and way his gaze lingered briefly on her chest and legs were anything to go by, he very much liked what he saw and Ruby couldn’t help but blush. 

“Oh well, I’d have to be a right git if I couldn’t handle one crotchety old goat. I have after all been teaching or working in animal care for decades and decades after all.” Ruby explained, ducking her gaze down, suddenly feeling a bit awkward and exposed under all the scrutiny. Absentmindedly she realized her ass was probably covered in all manner of unpleasantness from her tumble earlier. It was practically second nature to briefly twidle her fingers and whisper a quick cleansing spell before she opened the gate and exited the pen.

Only, Ruby cursed her carelessness as she looked up. Clint and Nat had almost definitely noticed something off. Each was sending her a particularly intense stare, only this one seemed more assessing and analytical. As if looking for what was off or weird about her. It made her squirm inside her own skin and either bury into the ground or word vomit out the secrets she knew she couldn’t say. That it wouldn’t be safe to say or for them to know about. Not with the death eaters on the loose and completely unstoppable. 

“Where did you say you worked again?” Natasha queried. Her arched eyebrow and too casual tone was intimidating and pushed Ruby’s mouth into moving to fill the empty silence before her brain quite caught up with what she was saying. 

“Ehrm, I didn’t really. Little private school off the beaten path by the name of Hogwarts. You wouldnae have heard about it.” Ruby said, groaning internally.

“And you’ve worked there for decades and decades? How old are you if you don’t mind me asking? You don’t look a day over a _very_ attractive 45.” The redhead purred all too casually.

And, well, wasn’t that an awkward question. Frankly she had no idea what a normal human age span was. Or really what her own age was for that matter. It had her awkwardly shifting from side to side for a few moments and scratching the back of her neck awkwardly thinking for an answer.

“I uh, don’t rightly know. My family didn’t really have a habit of keeping track of such things when I was a wee lass. I went to school in the forties though, once they kicked me out and all. Don’t really remember much to be honest.” Ruby explained, a bit awkward and stumbling before she could raise her eyes to look at her mates faces again. 

The sympathy and sadness on all three of their faces surprised her and made her chest ache with feeling. Clint looked some strange combination of like he’d just been punched in the gut and he wanted to punch something. Laura just looked horrified and had her hands over her mouth. Nat still looked a little hesitant and like something about her answer still had her suspicious, but it was overlaid with by far the softest expression Ruby had seen on her face so far. The redhead gave a little apologetic gesture even as Laura cleared her throat to grab everyone’s attention. 

“Well, I think this has been quite enough lowkey interrogation for one morning Nat. Let's go in and have some breakfast. I have a feeling the conversations we need to have are going to go better with some food and coffee in our bellies. Plus the kids are probably wondering what were all doing out here and getting bored” The housewife ordered, herding the trio of her mates towards the house. 

Ruby couldn’t help the grin on her face at the thought of breakfast with all three of her soulmates. Even if her heart was pounding at the thought of being introduced to their kids.


	4. The Watchful Spider

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natasha gets her sleuth on. Ruby meets the kids.

Natasha Romanov really was sorry. Her SHIELD mandated therapist would probably be giving her that annoyingly expectant gesture to talk about her feelings while throwing around words like “hypervigilance” and “unprocessed childhood trauma” if she knew. Not that the spy was planning to inform her, or that her being sorry was enough to push her from her course. 

...Not when her family, the two wonderful children and her bondmates were involved. The people who caught her fall and gave her a chance at life and happiness after everything she’d done. After the swiss cheese that was her memory had started to fill in itself in after she’d finally escaped the red room. That caught her when the blood on her hands was just that little bit too red, when she was tired of running after decades of heartbreak, pain and sadness. When she just couldn’t hold it all in anymore. 

...That saved her after she flagged her location to a SHIELD contact and sat there, weapons finally unloaded, waiting for the end that was her due. Only for a certain idiotic blonde numbskull with a fucking bow and arrow to come around the corner. For him to take one look at her and decide to adopt her like a goddamn lost puppy, even before he heard her real name and realized it was written across his right shoulder.

No, she might be sorry, but no one and nothing was allowed near those special, irreplaceable people if there might even be a hint of a threat to them. It’s not like she seriously doubted that Ruby was their soulmate. Or that she thought the woman would try to harm the kids or Laura. Hell, all it took was a few minutes in the large woman’s presence to conclude she was practically an overgrown teddy bear. Plus, Natasha’s training and self control was tight enough to note the very beginnings of the soulbond. Even after only a few minutes in her presence, the tips of her fingers itched, just that little bit more than normal. She could feel the urge rising to reach out and run her fingers through that luxuriously long soft hair. To bring her close and stare into those warm brown eyes until that lovely blush of hers painted Ruby’s cheeks. 

...but something was off and her instincts were flaring. Every vicious instinct of her training was warring with the warm gooey feelings of contentedness and family. Urging her to find out more. To build up her profile of the woman. To understand what was different and understand whatever possible threats might be at play. 

Natasha’s sharp eyes roved in fast patterns as she took in as many details as she could during the walk back to the farmhouse. Her observation started back when Ruby was leaving the goat pen. The funny little wave of her fingers; purposeful, yet strange. She knew the mumbled latin Ruby spoke was too quiet for any normal human to make out. However, she was far from a normal human (knock off soviet super serum and all). Still, it didn’t make a lick of sense to her, and started her cataloging everything that seemed odd or strange about her. An echo of weeks spent by a young child in threat assessment training. Looking for anything out of place, cross referencing old intel, using her eidetic memory to analyze and understand all those around her.

Once she was started, the oddities piled up quickly. The repeated and odd references to merlin as a seemingly common expression. The lack of dirt on her pants from when she fell in the mud. The strange look of guilt on Ruby’s face when she looked up and noticed Natasha’s survey of her. The oddly scalelike leather of her boots; not quite snakeskin and not quite cow. The edges of the bruises Laura had mentioned poking out from the woman’s loose linen top (looking oddly like something out of a renfaire). The various odd sundries tucked into the big black leather jacket now occupying their closet (of course, observed in the brief moments as she dropped off the go-bag she takes on mission). 

Most notably the pair of oddly cracked and sooty old fashioned goggles tucked into the breast pocket. They were familiar, somehow. She’d seen them somewhere before, and recently, though her exhausted brain was taking longer than normal to put the pieces together.

The answer hits her a little bit after the quad come into the kitchen. 

Lila and Cooper are both sitting at the table, practically salivating over the big stack of blueberry pancakes on the kitchen table. Within seconds of the two spies entering the door Lila was squealing excitedly and hurling herself into Nat’s arms. Cooper meanwhile damn near bowled Clint over by running into and hugging his Dad’s legs. Natasha felt a brief bittersweet pang at the moment. The kids had practically grown like weeds in the too many months since the pair had been home. As much as she needed, on a fundamental level, to keep doing her job, making the world a better place...the time away from her family still hurt deeply. 

Just as she’s finishing giving little Lila a big hug and assuring her that they were most definitely going to stick around for a few days is when she her brain makes the connection. Ruby had been standing just a foot back and to the side of the group. Politely giving the family space to reconnect before she’s introduced to the kids. The woman kept her face was kept carefully pleasantly neutral, though clearly nervous and excited. It’s the first time Nat’s really gotten a good look at her in profile though. 

All of a sudden she is very vividly reminded of the grainy cell phone camera footage Fury had shown them just a few hours before. Of the last still shot of the woman on the flying motorbike. Long hair flying free, and goggles on her face as she flew past the camera. Of the black smoke like shapes chasing her, shooting blasts of unknown energy at her. And no, yeah, her brain puts all the clues together and... her soulmates a...wizard? Witch? Mage? Druid? What even is the appropriate term here?

...Natasha very firmly does not have a minor panic attack at the thought of her care-bear looking soulmate fighting in what basically amounted to a fucking warzone. No way, she’s cool as a cucumber over that whole revelation. Natasha Romanov is the goddamn Black Widow and this is just another goddamn day at the office for her. Though, Lila does have to squirm out of her hold when she squeezes the girl just a little tighter than she meant to.  
It takes her a few moments for her brain to really reboot and process this new piece of information. Their new soulmate was a witness to the Avengers most recent assignment, she surmised. If Laura was correct as well, the woman was (perhaps understandably given the whole secret wizards-with-mind-wiping powers thing) being mum on the details. Obviously, that needed to change. If only for Natasha to do a proper threat assessment of whoever was attacking Ruby and make sure both her and the family was safe. 

Let it not ever be said that torture, extortion, black mail, manipulation and whatnot were the only information extraction techniques the infamous Black Widow had in her arsenal. Even if they were the most commonly used (she did, after all, get a god from another planet to give up all his secret plans in a two minute conversation). After all, the goal was not to traumatize her soulmate. She, just maybe, still wanted to see if she was as wonderfully responsive as she seemed (that blush when she bit Clint, holy hell, that blush). You know, and she wanted the woman to like her and not go running for the goddamn hills because she was being overly paranoid. 

A plan started to form. Even if it was somewhat unpleasant to contemplate for her. Trust. Trust was the key. Get people to trust you and they’ll divulge their deepest darkest secrets. Showcasing vulnerability was the fastest way to build trust, particularly among close friends and family. Exposing ones weaknesses and secrets showcased that vulnerability, built that trust (and had the added bonus of putting social pressure to share a commensurate secret on the receiver). It would have to be done subtly and carefully so as not to give away the game or seem unnatural, but she could already tell it would be effective. Maybe she’d even get better results if she threw in a subtle hint here or there about already knowing (at least superficially) about the wizarding world. 

So, she guessed, she should be prepared to showcase her soft underbelly in the conversation the quad was planning to have after breakfast. Though, she did still absolutely hate to talk about her past. But, well, in all fairness to Ruby, it wasn’t just a tool to get her to open up. There was loads of shit in both hers and Clint’s past that probably needed airing before the woman committed to either of them. It had to happen at some time, may as well kill two birds with one stone. 

Now to enjoy a pleasant breakfast with her now completed family, and wait for the opportune moment to bring it up.

*********************************

Ruby felt her pulse kicking up nervously as she ducked into the kitchen of the old farmhouse. Sticking back for a moment, she watched as her bondmates reunited with their kids after being away. An old bittersweet feeling beats once more in her chest as Clint kneeled down to give Cooper a hug, and Nat swept Lila up into her arms. 

She loved kids, she truly did, even if until that very moment she thought she’d never have any of her own. It’s not like she ever really had any length romantic entanglements or anything before now after all. However, the kids were probably her favorite part of working at Hogwarts for so many years. Even if the Slytherins (well, and Ravenclaws if she’s honest) tended to get a bit snooty and short with her. Especially when she was trying to teach em practical life skills like how to not get themselves killed by a blast ended skrewt. So many of them seemed to get their hackles up over being taught by their supposed inferior (by blood for the Slytherins, by intelligence for the Ravenclaws). 

Still, getting the chance to help support them as they grew, to watch their journeys as they came into themselves and their skills. To see them learn, make friends and finally go out in the world as more full, complete people. To watch the light of understanding come into their eyes when they truly understood what she was trying to teach them. When you realized that they _got it_ and you actually helped someone. _That’s_ what got Ruby out of bed in the morning through so very, very many years of loneliness.

She has to take a moment to swallow down the lump in her throat. Ruby carefully follows a step behind as Lila squirms out of Natasha’s arms and the family moves to the kitchen table. She s[emds great effort to school her face to blankness and tries not to intrude before she’s welcomed. Caught up in the excitement, it takes the kids a couple seconds before they notice the stranger standing in their space, leaning gently on the counter. Lila just looks a bit confused, but Cooper has this (surprisingly adorable) suspicious look on his face. 

“Who’re you?” The boy said, tone just short of sharp. Laura starts in her seat briefly before realizing quite what they’d forgotten in the excitement. Clearly in the bustle of the early morning routine the housewife had forgotten to really mention their guest. She briefly catches Ruby’s eye to give her an apologetic look for a second before answering Cooper. 

“Kids, do you remember what we told you when Clint brought Tasha home? About our marks?” The housewife asked, tone gentle and leading.

“Yeah, thats she was you mate so you weres gonna love her for eber and eber. And thats you got one more soulmate out there shomewhere.” Lila responded. Ruby had to stop herself from grinning and squeing at the adorable lisp she had. She’d probably just lost her first baby tooth a little while ago and all. 

“That’s right Lila. Well, when I was out yesterday I actually ran into her, our last soulmate. She needed a place to stay for awhile, so she’s gonna stay with us for a bit. Just like when Clint found Tasha on his business trip.” Laura explained. The housewife was grinning as both kids jaws dropped and they stared at her, utterly shocked. Ruby couldn’t help but find the expressions endearing, though she couldn’t quite tell if they were good shocked or bad.

“Hi, I’m Ruby, it’s nice to meet you.” The giantess said, deciding now was the appropriate time to actually introduce herself. She gave the kids an awkward little wave and flashed them a friendly, if a little nervous smile. Lila was the first to get over her shock, scrunching up her face and pulling in a big breath of air. 

“Your really Mommy’s s-soulmate?!” The little girl shrieked with excitement. The girl was vibrating in her seat, a giant grin lighting up her entire expression. Ruby did chuckle a little bit at the reaction, even if she wasn’t alone in flinching at the high pitch of her voice. Coming forward she pulled one of the chairs out, pausing for a second before she answered.

“Aye. I’m their mate. Do you mind terribly if I sit down Miss Lila?” Ruby asked politely, giving the girl a brief questioning nod. Taken aback, Lila, looked up at her in surprise and confusion. Glancing around she did notice similar confused expressions on her mates face (though, with Nat it was pretty hard to tell). She just gave them a brief reassuring glance as she waited for Lila to respond. 

“Why’re yous asking me? Aren’t you the adult here?” The girl said, after a few seconds.

“Well, I mean, it is yer house too you know. Yeh should get a say in who sits at yer table. It’s only polite isn’t it.” Ruby said, smirking a little at the confused tilt of her head. 

“I guess...but what’ll you do ifs I say no then?”

“Well, I’m a big girl aren’t I? It’s no bother to sit cross legged or eat on the couch. Up to you.” Ruby responded, holding her breath as Lila takes a few long moments to think it over very intently (and if the brow squish she does while she thinking isn’t just the cutest thing ever, Ruby doesn’t know what is).

“You can sit. You’re nice, I like you.” Lila finally proclaims, loudly and for all the world like a princess holding court. Ruby gives her a brief bow that makes the girl giggle in amusement before taking her seat with a big smile. She’s grinning from ear to ear when she catches each of her mates giving her approving and looks. The mood goes tense however when she takes a glance over at Cooper, who looks decidedly less enthusiastic about the whole affair.

“So, what, do we have to call you Mom now then?” He asks, tone quite obviously pouty. Laura shoots him a brief disapproving look and is just about to respond when Ruby waves her off. If she can handle snot nosed Draco goddamn Malfoy at 11, she can totally handle a confused and surprised boy who just had someone barge into his kitchen. 

“No, you don’t gotta do anything yeh don’t wanna do. After all, we just met and yeh hardly know meh. I’m just Ruby. I’d like to get to know yeh though, if yer willing.” The giantess responded, as neutrally as possible. Trying not to push or seem intrusive. It takes Cooper a little while for the stress to unwind from his shoulders and for him to relax a bit. Finally though he gives her a brief nod and the tension is broken. Clint grins and leans forward to start serving up pancakes for everyone. 

Breakfast, after that, is a bit of a raucous affair. Clint and Natasha of course want to hear all about everything going on in the kids lives. What’s happening at school, what new friends they’ve made, what movies and cartoons they’ve been watching. A lot of the muggle pop culture goes a bit over Ruby’s head. However, Lila seems to be only too happy to be asked to explain further, and seems to be able to go on expounding the details of her favorite shows and characters for hours. It’s all a little overwhelming, but by the end of it the giantess can confidently state that she’d like to watch at least a few of the shows the girl had mentioned. The megawatt smile and quick agreement to get her up to speed from Lila make her grin happily. 

Cooper is a bit more hesitant and shy. Ruby has to smile though when Natasha finally asks him about how his science homework is coming and his face lights up like a Christmas tree. The boy seems only too excited to rattle off subjects that Ruby could only wish she’d had time to really study when she was a lass. Still, he seems to appreciate when she asks him to slow down a bit and explain what he means a bit more. Even then there are a lot of terms she doesn’t know, but it’s still interesting, and the passion her has for the topic is infectious. Ruby can’t beam at him as she listens on in rapt attention. 

Plates and plates of pancakes and syrup are quickly devoured. Laura gets up to make another batch more than once. Ruby may feel a bit guilty about how much she’s eating. Half-giant appetite and all. Her apology is cut short however when the housewife does that dangerous mom glare thing she does and just scrapes another two pancakes onto Ruby’s plate. She chooses the thank the nice lady instead and just be grateful. Particularly when Clint elbows her under the table and tells her to “just go with it, it makes her happy.”

Eventually though, all great things must come to an end. Once everyone is nice and thoroughly stuffed, Laura goes about getting the kids ready for school. Clint and Natasha change into more casual clothes before escort the kids down to the school bus with strict admonishments not to mention the whole new soulmate thing to the other kids yet. They look a bit downtrodden, but do eventually agree.

Laura gets up to do the dishes, which is the point Ruby decides to actually put her foot down a bit. The standoff over whether or not Ruby is too injured to help with the dishes is tense. Eventually though, Ruby’s cool stare and assurances than if she’s going to be a guest and eating Laura’s cooking, she’s going to help out around the house. It’s only fair. As much as the woman grumbles about it, Ruby can tell through the growing soulbond that she does actually appreciate the gesture. 

Ruby’s just finishing drying off the last of the dishes when Nat and Clint come back into the kitchen. Out of the corner of her eye she could see both of them giving her and Laura the warmest most gooey look. Like the pair of women working in the kitchen together was everything good and right in the world. She feels her cheeks flaming, and can’t help feeling awkward under such an intent stare. Even if she can’t help being a bit happy at how well everything seemed to go, and hopeful for the future being brighter after all. As first times meeting the kids go, that didn’t seem to go to bad. Not that she’d know really, but nobody was cursed, hexed or other shenanigans were pulled, so it went better than when she first met the Weasley clan at least.

“So, I guess we should probably talk about some things. Figure out the details of how this is all going to work right? Would you like some tea while we do that?” Natasha says after a second. Her tone carefully neutral. 

And oh right, yeah. Meeting the kids and saying hello to the soulmates was not all they had to do today. Intense, important, life changing conversations were also needed. Ones that she probably still couldn’t share all the details during, even if she was seriously considering breaking the statute of secrecy. Eeep. Ruby feels woefully unprepared for that sort of conversation right now, just catching her breath as she is from meeting the kids. Still, the giantess nods anyways, following carefully when Natasha guides them all to the living room and putting on a kettle of water.

Gotta do this one way or another, she muses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaand as you might guess, a certain revelation or two is going to be happening next chapter. Hope you enjoyed ;)


	5. Secrets and Choices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The quad talk and it all comes tumbling down.

*******************************

“So.” Ruby said awkwardly. She took a sip of her tea as she sat in the living room with her mates. Ruby had commandeered a squishy armchair as her seat while they talked. Clint and Laura sat across from her on the lovely leather couch, while Natasha perched like a cat on the armrest. The room was homey and welcoming, with plush rugs, a nice coffee table and a TV hanging on the wall. Still, the giant couldn’t help but feel a little awkward and intimidated. That might mostly be due to the fact that she honestly she had no idea how to even start this conversation, let alone how to communicate what she could of her life. To be honest, she was having a hard enough time even trying to fill the awkward silence smothering the room.

“So, indeed.” Clint said back, equally as nervous and awkward. That warmed Ruby a bit, that she wasn't the only one who didn't really know how to proceed. Graceful confident Natasha though was kind enough to put them out of their misery. Even if she did roll her eyes and give a a pointed groan while she did it.

“I guess the first order of business is asking the big question. What has Laura already told you about us, and do you recognize us?” The redhead asked, and gave Ruby a surprisingly intense look. The question was pretty simple though, so Ruby was glad to have an easy place to start. 

“Uh, Laura and I were pretty busy just catching up about us last night. Didn't really talk about yeh guys more than that yeh work together on some government thing and are often away. I'm not sure what you mean by recognize yeh though? I definitely haven't seen yeh before, should I have?” The giantess explained. The surprised looks blooming on all three of her mates faces simply made her grow more and more confused. 

“Ruby, dear...have you heard anything about something called the Avengers initiative?” Laura finally asked quietly. The giantess found the hesitant tone of her voice a little strange and worrying, but plowed on regardless.

“Uhh, maybe? I think I heard some of meh students gossiping about some such thing on the telly a ways back. I uh, didn’t pay so much attention to it. The mugg- uh, the news or celebrities has never really been relevant to meh. Why, what's it about?” Ruby said. She tripped over her words a bit as her nerves got the best of her. They weren’t helped by the absolutely flabbergasted looks on her mates faces. Honestly, she felt a bit silly and stupid, like she was missing some basic truth of the universe that everyone else was clued in on. She could already feel the embarrassed blush raising to her cheeks as they all stared at her.

“Well, uh, that’s definitely surprising, but we can work with that. Probably better you hear it from us first anyway. Ruby, uh...I guess to start with...the organization we work for, SHIELD, founded the Avengers. SHIELD is sortof a covert spy and military agency. We specifically protect the populace from any threats that are...weird.” Clint slowly explained then paused to give Ruby some time to process it.

“Weird… how?” The giantess asked. Her voice cracked nervously, wondering how magic fit into all of this. Did they already know and she was just stressing over nothing? Was she going to get them in trouble, or would they need to arrest her? She just didn’t know and it was freaking her out. 

“Weird as in the strange, unusual and dangerous. The Avengers is a special team that made the news recently that covers the really big, world ending threats. Like a few months ago we helped repel an alien invasion in New York. Even before Clint and I joined them, we were doing a lot of spy work for SHIELD more broadly. SHIELD generally tries to intervene as little as possible, but sometimes stuff goes pear shaped and we need to step in to keep people safe. Unexplained technology and weapons hurting civilians. Science experiments gone wrong. Magical terrorist attacks or otherwise enhanced people hurting the populace. You name it, we’ve probably had some sort of run in with it.” Natasha said as she smoothly cut in. Her gaze was intent and searching. Ruby felt a little like she was being stripped naked under the scrutiny, though she wasn’t entirely sure if that was a bad feeling or not. 

Ruby didn’t miss though the sharp look Clint shot Natasha as Ruby squirmed under their gaze. The pair of spies turned to look at each other, glancing between one another with expressions on their faces slowly shifting back and forth. Ruby realized they seemed to be so intune with one another as to have an entire conversation in subtle facial expressions. Clint seemed a bit exasperated and unsure, while Natasha seemed confident and determined, but it was a little hard to tell. 

Still, despite the distraction, the explanation hit her like a brick to the head. Just like always, she has her mouth open and blabbing she entirely thinks things through. 

“Wait...yeh already know about the magical community then?” Ruby blurted out. Clint and Laura’s jaws absolutely drop, utterly shocked and stared at her like she’d grown a second head. Natasha’s reaction is much more subtle. A slight widening and blink of the eyes before she’s nodding just a bit in confirmation. As if she expected Ruby’s answer, but still has trouble making herself believe it.

“Yes and no. We were actually just informed of the barest fact of its existence before we came home to meet you. Our boss asked to find out more about a certain attack that took place on the streets of London last week when we go back. Maybe speak to a certain pretty lady riding a flying motorcycle? Off the record of course.” The redhead offered slyly, her tone was leading but still warm. By the end of her comment, Clint seemed to have his brain restart and has gone back to giving Natasha that exasperated and intent look, like he was still confused what exact point she was trying to make.

“Aye,that was probably me,but…” Ruby started to say, before her brain really caught up with her mouth and she clamped it shut. She thought the soulbond had to be messing with her brain a little bit if her brain to mouth filter was already so low. Making her feel all warm, comfortable and safe. Even before she started working so close with the order it normally took her at least a few conversations before she forgot what she wasn’t supposed to say. Forcefully she dropped her gaze to the ground, grumbling and taking a deep breath before she continued 

“Bollocks. I should not have said that, I should not have said that. Just...don’t ask meh any more. I...I can’t really talk about it. The order would be... right pissed with me. Bollocks. I probably shouldn’t even have said anything about the magical community, but hey. That’s meh. Bumbling dumb Hagritte always yapping her big mouth.” Ruby said as she groaned and pillowed her head in her hands. She couldn’t help but berate herself for her slip. She should be thinking what is okay to say through properly before she just blurts it out. Even if she was thinking of breaking the statute of secrecy, letting them know the full details of the order would make her mates attractive targets for the death eaters. It was still early days still in their relationship, but she felt a shiver of spear down her spin at the worry of something happening to them (or, god forbid, Cooper and Lila). 

“Okay, we’ll get back to that incredibly unhealthy and unhelpful negative self talk another time Ruby. For now, someone had better start catching me up with what in the sam hell they are meaning here. Magical community?! What. the. heck. Also, Ruby was a witness to a freaking magic terrorist attack? Seriously? What else is there that everybody but me knows?” Laura grumbled out. The housewife shot withering glares at all three of her mates, but mostly focused in on Clint and Nat. All three of them grimaced and tried to look anywhere but right at her. Clint was the one to break first though. 

“Laur, sweetheart, it's not like we were keeping secrets or anything. Fury just had a new briefing for us before we could come home.” The blonde explained as he reached into his pocket to fish out his phone. He started playing a video of what Ruby realized was the escape in London. She had to gulp at the darkening look on Laura’s face as she watched the order flying away from the death eaters. 

“Fury didn’t even really know much. Apparently magical people are super secretive. To the point of magically erasing the memories of anyone not cleared to know about them. Which is basically just heads of state and leads of intelligence organizations. For whatever reason, after this fight the wizards didn’t clean up like usual and the British magical government isn’t responding to any messages. Fury wants to know more to decide how worried we should be.” Clint finished explaining, giving Laura’s arm a sympathetic squeeze. The housewife grimaced and pointed down at the screen as the video ended on a freeze frame the Ruby knew was her on her bike.

“So what your saying is what? Ruby’s a witch? And this is her in the video getting shot at in a terrorist attack? That’s how she got so hurt?” The brunette asked, her voice small and wavering. Ruby had a strong sudden urge to get up and wrap her in her arms to help ease her worry. Clint beat her to it though, so she just forced herself to sit on her hands as he hugged her close. Even still, the housewife was practically vibrating in her seat.

“Err, well, I wasn’t hurt so bad during the chase. It was, uh, when the death eaters found meh at home after that they got in their hits and burnt down my cottage. I was fine though, good ole mad eye had us all well prepared. We each had a portkey to teleport us to different locations out of the country should the worst happen. I was lucky enough to get to mine before they did anything too nasty. Not everyone else had the chance.” Ruby explained, as she tried to calm the situation down. Her voice did break and squeak a bit though, too many friends had fallen in the chase. The sad, horrified and angry looks gracing the faces of her three mates clued her in that she might not be entirely successful at putting their minds at ease.

“Mishka...that doesn’t sound fine. Even if your some powerful witch, you were burnt out of your home and beaten badly. It sounds like friends of yours died as well,which is never easy. I might not be the poster child for openness or anything, but you know it’s okay to not be okay right? We’ll be here through it, and won’t judge you.” Tasha said, her voice soft and sad. Ruby glanced between her mates, seeing not a dry eye among them. It wasn’t pity she saw...but sympathy and sadness. Like on some level they understood how she might feel. The growing echoes of their feelings across the soulbond was what eventually undid her. Before she knew it a soft hiccuping sob escaped her throat and she was wiping tears away from her eyes.

“I’m...I’m not even a real witch you know, an I'm certainly not powerful.” Ruby said with a derisive watery snort. She felt momentary confusion coming through the soulbond, so she decided to explain further. Lay it all out, show them what a hot mess they were signing up for. 

“Meh mum was a giant, so I’m just a halfblood. Barely have any schoolin too, or a license to do any real magic. Got expelled and had meh wand snapped in my second year. We managed to prove it wasn’t meh fault a few years back, but it’s not like I could go back to school decades years later for all the stuff I missed. I picked up the odd wandless trick or two over the years, but can barely light a fire without screwin some stupid thing up.” The giantess said as she sobbed through her tears. As much as she tried to fight it, some part of her still felt pathetic and embarrassed. Her mates were such wonderful, accomplished people. Two were apparently famous and amazing spies who helped save the world. The other was a wonderful homemaker, running a farm all by herself and raising two lovely kids. She was mated to people that had been constantly pushing forward, who’d made a home, family and life when she was still stuck in the mud at 90. 

Overwhelmed and spiraling she barely realized anything was happening before strong arms had pulled her up out of her chair and over to the couch. Arms were wrapped around her and pairs of soft and rough hands started carding through her hair. Warm bodies pressed in on all sides of her. Her skin felt tingly and charged wherever they touch and sent shivers down her spine. Still, the contact seemed to settle and ground something in her, help her feel more stable. It takes several minutes, but slowly her tears dried up and she settled and snuggled into the embrace. 

“I’m confused a bit though. I thought you said you were a teacher at this school you had to run from?” Laura finally asked once Ruby had calmed down. Her voice was soft and inviting, clearly trying to keep Ruby talking instead of bottling it all in. She wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about that, but she figured in for a penny in for a pound. Maybe she wouldn’t share anything really about the order, but the least she could give them was some of her own history. 

“Aye. Dumbledore...the headmaster, he was like a father to meh. Took meh in after I was kicked outta mum's clan. He never believed what got me expelled from school was meh fault, but neither of us could prove it. Still, he gave meh a job as the groundskeeper. I always had a bit of a gift for working with animals, and the forest around the grounds took a lot of management. So many dangerous beasties and critters about to keep away from the kids. Few years back he gave meh a chance to teach care of magical animals after the fourth professor in a row quit within the first two years on the job.” The giantess explained, her voice fond and a bit melancholy.

“He uh, died recently. The death eaters, the ones who were attacking us...he was the only wizard they feared. Without him around, well…” Ruby said, gazing off and going quiet. She vaguely gestured towards Clint's phone on the table, still showing video of the battle. Honestly, she just had no words for the storm of emotions in her chest around the whole thing. At least Harry got out as well. Small mercies. She felt the arms squeezing her tighten reflexively and a soft set of lips planted a chaste kiss on the top of her head. She looked up to see Nat giving her a watery smile, the spy had moved to lean over the top of the couch. It was Clint’s rougher drawl that broke the silence though. 

“That’s just...that’s rough, real rough. Thank you for sharing darlin’. I know something of unhappy childhoods and loss and junk, so I know how hard it musta been to talk about it. I think I speak for everyone here when I say we're behind you 100%. Whatever you need, we’ll support you. Just say the word.” Clint said, as he gave Ruby’s arm a brief encouraging squeeze. Oddly enough, even that simple gesture seemed to help make the giantess feel a bit better. She reached out herself for the first time to pull the man into a big bear hug. The way the blonde practically melted and went all sorts of goey and relaxed in her arms was beyond gratifying. It was almost enough to distract her from when Natasha briefly cleared her throat and started talking again. 

“I know you have secrets you don’t want to tell, and people counting on you. I wanted to say though, that it might help to talk about it. Believe me when I say that Clint and I have more than enough experience with violent situations and factions to help. Maybe it’s just that we can give you another perspective on how to navigate it. We’re also very good at keeping secrets, nobody will hear it from us, and that’s a fact.” The redhead said. Her voice was soft and a little forlorn, imploring. Ruby didn’t find it harsh, demanding or otherwise pushy. In fact, it was just...sweet, and caring. 

Much as she tried not to let it get to her, it was all just...so much. Suddenly having three wonderful people pressing her in on all sides with support and acceptance. Looking at her like she mattered. Ruby honestly couldn’t remember the last time somebody had just...cared so much about her. Harry and the gang were just kids, and kids with too much responsibility heaped on them as it was. Much as she loved each and every one of em, their relationship these days was mostly her fussing over them every time they got themselves laid up in Poppy’s hospital wing. Dumbledore and the order hadn’t exactly had time for social calls either. No, every meeting was business, death eaters, constant vigilance and more business. 

“Shite. How could I ever deserve mates as good as yeh all. I’m just...” The giantess groaned, trailing off pathetically. She felt a hot rush of shame build up in the back of her throat. Her tears started to fall once more, she was after all, a bit of a crybaby on top of everything else. Couldn’t even hold herself together properly. Her attention was grabbed when her redheaded mate shifted around the couch to kneel in front of her. Those lovely green eyes were practically staring into her soul and she she couldn’t help but gulp at the sight. 

“Mishka...I know it’s a little overwhelming, but we do care for you. We’ve been waiting decades to finally get to know you after all. It’s not like we're paragons of virtue or anything either. You might have the wrong idea about us. Clint and I, well, more me...we don’t exactly have the cleanest past. We both have blood on our hands, and have done things… well things no good person would do.” Tasha whispered, her tone quiet and sad. Ruby couldn’t help but be a bit confused at that.

“But...yeh said yeh and Clint practically saved the world with these Avenger folks right?” The giantess asked, utterly confused. 

“True, but not always Mishka. We...had to grow up fast and hard. I...” The redhead said, pausing and worrying her lip a bit, as if fighting with herself over whether to say more.

“Well, the short version is, I was kidnapped when I was around 5. We’re not exactly sure, it’s been so long now and the records aren’t exactly available. The people who had me...were looking to create the perfect spies, perfect human weapons. We were trained, hard, and broken in almost every way there was. Fighting, murder, torture, manipulation, you name it we had to learn it or die. We were...assassins. They even experimented on us to make us stronger, faster, age slower.” Tasha slowly explained. Her tone was unnervingly flat and emotionless, a sound that just seemed to cut into Ruby’s heart. The redhead’s eyes took on this glassy far off quality, as if she wasn’t even all there. Like she couldn’t explain what happened without trying to think of it as happening to someone else. Ruby didn’t like it, not one bit. 

“I...I honestly have no idea how many thousands of people I’ve killed. They figured out a way to wipe our memories periodically to try and keep us complacent. Even decades after getting out I have no idea if I’ve gotten it all back, or if there’s another nightmare to come. Clint and Laura are the only ones who know the full extent of it. I wouldn’t trust anyone else with half of the crap in my brain.” The redhead finally finished. She had a visible moment where she seemed to blink snap back into herself again. Ruby could practically feel her soul bond with the woman quivering. Her fingers itched to reach out and comfort her. 

“I can’t imagine how hard that must have been for yeh. I’m sorry...would yeh maybe like a hug?” The giantess asked, trying for a casual tone but even to her ears it came out with a bit of a begging whine. Those sparking green orbs fluttered for a second as a brief expression of surprise flitted across her face.

“What? Sure I guess?” The woman eventually responded, though clearly still a little mystified at the response to her tale of woe and trauma. Not waiting for any more permission Ruby leaned forward. The giantess dipped an arm low to swing under and support the redhead’s legs as her other arm curled around the petite woman’s shoulders. With nary a grunt of exertion she hefted her up from her kneeling position and spun her around to sit in her lap. Natasha tensed dangerously and gave a surprised hiss at the change in position before Ruby’s big arms curled around her lithe torso. Within moments the tension in the woman’s form faded entirely as she melted in Ruby’s arms. Ruby couldn’t help the grin, it was an awful lot like trying to pick up and cuddle a suspicious alley cat for a first time. At least she didn’t get scratched. 

“I’m surprised. Usually when I explain even a bit of that people freak out and keep asking me if I’m okay now. It’s so annoying.” The spy harrumphed idly. 

“I’m not daft. Course you’re not okay.” Ruby said with a snort. Natasha gave a brief amused hum for a second before curling deeper into Ruby’s chest, a soft rumbling purr almost unconsciously leaving her throat. The giantess couldn’t help the smile starting to spread across her face. The woman’s small toned form just seemed to fit so perfectly within her arms. She was warm too! Not that she was exactly an expert on cuddling, but she seemed to run a few degrees hotter than most other humans. Maybe a side effect of whatever weird experiments her captors did on her or something. The comparison to an alley cat grew in her mind as the effect very much mimicked having a warm furry blanket draped over her lap. 

Eventually though, the giantess looked over to see how her other two mates were doing. She saw bittersweet smiles. Their eyes were filled with sadness over the old wounds being brought up, but also soft fondness over the scene playing out in front of them. Her gaze lingered on Clint for a second, her expression curious, not forgetting his role in the tale. He looked a bit hesitant before clearing his throat to offer his own history.

“My story, uh, is a bit more simple. Dad was an abusive drunk, mom died when I was a baby. My brother and I eventually ran away to join the circus. We both got involved in crime early and I learned to shoot really well. Eventually we had a falling out so he beat me up before leaving me in a ditch to die. When I finally picked myself up I started doing some mercenary jobs for hire. Protection orders, mob bosses putting a hit out on rival gangs, that sort of stuff. SHIELD eventually arrested me, but thought I was useful enough to offer me a job. To be clean and legal if I worked for them.” The blonde explained awkwardly. His voice went tight with emotion and barely restrained anger in points. He was all long burning hurt and anger in comparison to Natasha’s barely patched up lost grief. 

It was still enough to make Ruby briefly grit her teeth as a shot of sympathetic rage shot through her. She pushed it all away though, and simply offered him a hand. At his nod, she pulled him into her side. Her long arms reached all the way around his shoulder to be able to hug both him and Natasha at the same time. He let out a relieved breath and shuddered a bit, like he was holding back a sob for a second before he pushed it all down. Her eyes misted as she rested her head on his shoulder and just kept him close. She shot a glance at Laura as well. 

“My, uh, my mom was pretty religious. She kinda freaked out over the three soulmates, two are girls thing. Kicked me out of the house when I was 16. Church may not have had an official problem with it, but it was kinda a not in my backyard thing. Lived on the streets for awhile before I met this asshole.” Laura offered sadly as she surprised Ruby by reaching over her to give Clint an affectionate poke in the arm. 

Ruby didn’t have to be told twice to take the hint when Laura’s eyes turned longing as the housewife watched the trio cuddle. She pulled the brunette onto her other side opposite Clint. Much as it had given her grief throughout her entire life, in that moment she was utterly content with being half giant. Just big enough that all three of her mates snuggled in perfectly in her arms, and she was hardy enough not to be crushed under all the weight of the three of them. Content and trusting she could feel the bonds she shared with all of them growing as they accepted each other. Pulsing and purring like a content cat as the storm of emotions from who knows who slowly settled down inside her.

“So, Mishka, this all to say. We may not be good, or even okay really, but we’re working on it. Together. We’ll work with you too, in whatever way you’ll let us.” Natasha finally stated, an air of finality and confidence in her voice. 

...and honestly? The largest part of Ruby wanted to do just that, to take the leap of faith and just go for it. To trust in these new, wonderful people she’d met. All that was holding her back was loyalty to the Order and to Dumbledore. The promise she’d made to never share their secrets without permission...but was that really the right choice anymore? Dumbledore was dead and most of the Order was scattered to the winds. It’d be months, if not years before they recovered enough to even try thinking of a strike on you-know-who and the ministry. They...needed help, and they needed it fast. 

And the kids...shite, the kids. 

She hadn’t had time to do much thinking about them beyond trying to draw as many death eaters away from the castle to her cottage as possible. To buy them some time for the other professors to mount an escape or evacuation. The truth was though, Hogwarts had fallen. She couldn’t imagine the horrors that were going on in it’s walls. While she couldn’t imagine even the death eaters just...executing all the kids, certainly some retribution had to be expected. At least some of them had to be experiencing the Death Eater’s ire, cruel as it was. 

Ultimately, that was the crux of it, what decided her. Ruby had joined the Order all those years ago because Dumbledore had asked, because it was the right thing to do, because so few others had the courage to stand up and fight. She stayed after the first war though, because she saw the cost of inaction. In the lives ruined, the families destroyed, the children orphaned and crying. 

Because it couldn’t happen again. Because children should not have to die, or be tortured, or beaten until they complied.

Ruby cared not a whit for the goddamn prophecy that started all this mess. Didn’t give a toss about defeating any damn fool dark lord beyond the most abstract notion of preventing further harm to those she cared about. It was the adults job, her fuckin job to sort out their own mistakes. Dear old Tom and her still had a score to settle after all. Harry shouldn’t have had the weight and hopes of an entire goddamn nation on his shoulders. Shouldn’t have her and the rest of the Order heaping their burdens on him.

And that’s what she’d be doing if she kept her mouth shut. If she didn’t keep trying. If she didn’t reach out for some goddamn help for once.

“Aye. It’s...a long story. But...yeh’re probably right. I don’t think I can fix it on meh own. Not without help. If yeh’re willing.” Ruby whispered, her voice taunt and thick with emotion. Pleased and surprised feelings filtered through all her soulbonds before Ruby was practically bowled over by the feeling of affection and reassurance. Her watery eyes let a last, happier tear fall down her cheek. 

“Darlin, you got it.” Clint promised.

She believed him.


	6. Planning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trio run a plan by Fury, Clint and Ruby get to know each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! I'm alive! And like, writing again, wew! End of term was truly crazy. Getting back into the swing of things again, so hopefully I'll have more regular updates for you over the summer (which is just a research term for me, so I'll be pulling fewer late nights). 
> 
> Also yes, I'm a horrible tease ;)

“So let me get this goddamn straight,” growled the grizzled one eyed spy from a monitor hooked up in the farms basement. “We have a batshit insane, semi immortal, super powered magic nazi, leading an army of other super powered magic nazi’s...and they’ve taken control of the what amounts to the British Government?”

“Yup.” Natasha cooed, popping the p.

“Goddamn, motherfucking christ. Why can’t it be a motherfucking false alarm, one goddamn time.” Fury barked angrily. Natasha could see the commander rubbing his fingers into his temple, fruitlessly trying to stave off the headache to come. 

“Okay, you’re the one with the inside source Romanov. Give me next steps.” Fury asked. Natasha paused, pursing her lips and grimacing slightly. Much as she was one for improvising her way out of trouble, they were woefully underprepared, lacked any significant knowledge of enemy positions or strength and without any intelligence network in an entirely new battlefield. The situation was, in a word: fucked. 

“We’re not ready to make any big moves yet. We need to know more about the situation on the ground and get armed properly before we even think about striking. We’re planning a trip to New York tomorrow. There’s apparently a magical enclave and shopping center hidden downtown as well as a public office for the International Confederation of Wizards.” The redhead explained, not missing the annoyed twitch of her boss’s brow. Natasha had to suppress the upwards curve of her lips thinking of how annoyed Fury would be over their intelligence on wizarding society not including a base in downtown freaking New York.

“We have two goals as of now,” The redhead continued. “First, Ruby does not have access to a wand. Having our only magical unarmed and practically defenseless is not acceptable. Second, this is a complex global society we’re dealing with. We can’t go in half-cocked without more knowledge of the players in the game. Ruby doesn’t think it likely there will be any International response, but who knows, we may have allies, or may have other players to add to the hit list.” Natasha explained smoothly, pausing briefly to transfer over the flight plans Clint had drawn up after their discussion yesterday.

“After our shopping trip, Clint and I are planning a brief intelligence gathering operation. See what’s in the papers and radio, listen in on some foreign dignitaries, get the lay of the land, that sort of thing.” The spy finished, leaning back in her chair. 

“Approved. I’ll connect with Stark and the others to give them the sitrep. This entire operation will be classified Avengers only, and like with Laura, I’ll keep any mention of Ruby being your soulmate off the books.” Fury grumbled out, staring at the redhead levelly. “Now, go spend some goddamn time with your goddamn mates before you go charging off to save the world again Romanov. I meant it when I said 48 hours downtime.” The commander growled, giving Natasha barely enough time to mutter a yes sir before he logged off. Now alone in her private little sanctuary, Natasha let the smile grace her face and the tension slip from her shoulders. Asshole paranoid spymaster or not, Fury knew how people ticked, and he tried to care about the people in his employ. Well, mostly anyway, if it wasn’t too big an imposition, or jeopardizing the world or anything. She’d certainly had a hell of a lot worse bosses in the past. 

Quickly Natasha shut down and put away the secure conference setup they'd installed. Sauntering upstairs to the kitchen, the spy poured herself a cup of coffee. Black and bitter as all hell. A quick search around the house found Laura sitting on the back patio, sipping her favored tea. 

With her stealth training so ingrained, she had to consciously and carefully step on the creaky floorboard to avoid surprising the woman. The redhead wrapped her arms around her mate’s shoulders and pressed a soft kiss to the brunette's neck. The delightful shiver that went through Laura's form made her grin, small but full. Natasha and Clint often had issues with expressing their emotions quite so fully, so the open and sensitive way Laura responded to their affection was frankly a godsend. 

“How was the call with Fury? Everything okay?” The housewife asked tentatively, leaning into Natasha’s embrace even if her shoulders still held lots of tension. The redhead didn’t miss the somewhat pointed look Laura shot her. While their brunette mate might respect Fury and what SHIELD meant to them, the spy knew the woman had her share of complaints. Natasha was very much not blind to the way fighting the good fight pulled Laura’s mates from her, only to come home bleeding on medical leave all too often. Natasha couldn’t help the fond familiarity over her slightly overprotective anxiety, now seeming to be stirred up over Fury and SHIELD’s response to their last mate. 

“Everything’s fine dear. You worry too much, mother hen.” Natasha said, snickering lightly. The housewife gave her a playful glare in response, that only made her crack up harder.

“You teasing bully. I am not a mother hen!” Laura huffed exaggeratedly. The most adorable pout came over her face, clearly showing where Lila got her devastatingly effective sad puppy eyes from. The redhead couldn’t resist teasing just a little more though and clucked like a chicken twice. The adorable pout turned into a huffed glare and the brunette gave Nat a playful shove. The redhead just waited it out though, and smirked victoriously when the a fond if exasperated smile took over Laura’s expression. 

“Nat! I’m trying to be serious here! How did the call go! How’d Fury take it?” Laura eventually grumbled out once she’d had her fill of glaring.

“Pretty well actually. Don’t get me wrong, the entire situation’s fucked, but Fury’s got our backs. Same protocol as with you, nothing on the books about her being our mate. The shopping trip plan is a go as well.” The spy explained, feeling pleased when the hint of tension in Laura’s shoulders melted away.

“That’s good...great in-fact. I just wish we had a bit more time together before you all had to jet off around the world. I feel like I just got you all together finally and you’re all off to go get hurt again.” Laura said, her words trailing off quietly even as a wave of bittersweet melancholy crested over the soulbond. 

Natasha gave Laura a sad little smile and a quick hug. With all the excitement of yesterday’s conversations, it’d taken a bit of time for the adrenaline to calm down. Afterwards though, the entire trio was utterly exhausted. Laura and Ruby had a bit more energy to putter around in the afternoon to finish up the daily chores, but Clint and Natasha’s shorting of sleep caught up to them in a big way. They napped the day away waiting for the kids to come home. Even then, after a quick dinner the entire quad had tucked in to bed early, too tired even consider doing anything than cuddle and sleep. Tonight was the night they were planning to tell the kids about Ruby’s magic when they got home from school, but Natasha had wanted to check in with Fury first thing in the morning to see what their plan was. 

“I know sweetheart. It’s not fair and if I had my way, we’d be on a nice long vacation right now, but the world won’t let us. You can bet we’ll be even more careful than we normally are. No way in goddamn hell are either Clint or I letting Ruby get beat up like that again, and it should just be a quick couple day trip. Hopefully after we’ll be able to hand off the intelligence to the team or the government and finally cash in all that vacation time Fury owes us.” The redhead said, curling her arm tighter around Laura’s shoulder. 

“I know, I know, you guys need to do it. I just...I wonder about what’s going to be going on with the wizards. Even just the hints we’ve seen so far...I’m worried about the state of things I guess. I can’t imagine going back is going to be easy for Ruby.” Laura said, huffing out an anxious breath even as she curled into Natasha’s chest. 

“We’ll be there for her this time though. She’ll actually have backup and someone who’s in her corner for once. It’ll be fine, and if it isn’t we’re absolutely calling in the Avengers and getting the fuck out of there.” The spy said, calming her mate by pressing a soft kiss to the nape of her neck and tracing soft patterns on her shoulders. “Now, let's put aside the anxious worrying for a bit and enjoy the time we do have. Where did Ruby and Clint get off to while I was having my meeting with Fury?” Natasha asked.

The spy curled her awareness out, feeling through soulbond for their other two mates. Her connection to Clint was much clearer (they had, after all, been together for years already) but she was still getting a bit of feedback from Ruby. It seemed like the pair were together and filled with a lot of childlike glee and excitement. A glance to Laura saw a fond smile replacing her earlier worried frown.

“Ahhh, right. After you left, Ruby and Clint were talking about stuff. Ruby let slip that she’s a fair hand with a crossbow, what with hunting in the forest around her school and all. Clint immediately decided he had to drag her off to the range for some target practice. Doubly so when she mentioned never having the chance to use an actual bow before.” Laura said, waving her hand towards the back of the property where Clint had setup their training rooms and ranges. 

“And I take it this target practice had nothing at all to do with a certain boy just wanting to show off all his shiny toys did it?” The redhead asked with a knowing smirk. 

“Truly, we may never know.” Laura said with a giggle.

“Well, shall we got check in on our wayward soulmates before they blow holes in the house?” The redhead asked. Setting off quickly when Laura nodded in affirmation. 

While walking across the farm with Laura, Nat tuned into the sense of Clint she was getting. Smiling to herself at the bubbling giddy happiness the man was practically radiating. For all she tried to be there for him, and all the times she’d tried to tell him being mind controlled before the battle of New York wasn’t his fault, she knew he struggled. Hell, she still struggled with the guilt of not being their to stop it happening in the first place. Rationally she knew it was neither of their faults, but she and Clint were not people able to easily let go of their negative emotions. It seemed like meeting Ruby would be what finally helped get him out of his funk.

The feelings only got clearer and more pronounced as the women approached the long low metal building where the spies had setup the gun range and training rooms. The farm had actually been built beside the ruins of an old decommissioned SSR base that Peggy had gifted to Fury when she retired. Back in the day the property and hangar had actually served as a place to test fly new airplanes before Peggy scrubbed it from the books to use as a personal safe house. Naturally, most of the other supporting structures had been torn down or remodeled since, but the hangar helped keep noise and questions down to a minimum when the spies were practicing with guns or other weapons.

Stepping into the structure through the side access hatch Natasha took a habitual brief glance around for possible threats while Laura made her way towards where she felt Clint and Ruby. The walls of the building were mostly sheet metal, though they’d been reinforced and somewhat soundproofed over the years. Racks of knives and other weapons, both practice and real were placed along the walls. Just inside from the old hangar doors was a large set of practice gym mats for hand-to-hand training. Further inside was an old square office that they’d converted into a bathroom for showering after their training sessions. 

What really drew the eye though was the range that took up most of the back half of the building. Clint, being less hawk and more shiny collecting magpie had amassed a truly impressive number of “toys”. All of which he seemed to be currently taking great pleasure in showing off and instructing Ruby in how to use, with a nice sampling of sidearms, crossbows and bows set out along the main shooting counter. 

A series of display racks and storage hooks were placed along the sides of the range. Dozens of bows of different draw weights were hung unstrung alongside a slightly smaller but no less impressive collection of crossbows, rifles and pistols. It probably wouldn’t even be an exaggeration to say the archer had literally thousands of arrows and crossbow bolts in bins beside the range. Judging from the high pitched excited sounds coming from the man he was probably on one of his (many) nerdy tangents about them. As adorable as it (usually) was, Clint even sometimes even tried her patience with his over explaining about his expansive collection. 

No no no, you see, according to Clint it’s not enough just to have a lot of arrows in case they get damaged at work. We need a collection in different materials for different situations. Carbon fiber (especially Stark’s new advanced blends) tends to be a bit sturdier and more accurate, but aluminum is heavier and thus transfers more force. Plus certain fletchings are better for some bows than others you see. And there needs to be tips for both lethal and non-lethal situations. Oh and you can’t forget having a stock of all the trick arrows SHIELD has created for Clint over the years. You never know when you might need an explosive arrow, or maybe a shocking arrow, or who knows, keep a few of the one to hack electronic systems around as well. Why not? 

...You know, in case when he was relaxing at home with his family he had to suddenly take down an enemy helicarrier for some reason...never hurts to be prepared right?

(Natasha has to grudgingly admit that in some ways Clint may be even more paranoid and hypervigilant than herself). 

“-so, you know that bow was customized to have a draw weight of like 135 pounds.” Natasha hears Clint say as she catches up to Laura and settles in to watch Clint and Ruby’s conversation. “-It’s like, way to hard to draw for somebody who just started today. Like honestly, it’s on the limits of peak human performance, even I can barely draw it. Using that too long could probably warp your spine a little so…” The blonde archer babbles as he shows Ruby a series of bow options after the giantess had picked up a compound hunting bow. 

One way or another, the blonde seems oblivious to have missed the way his comment makes Ruby bristle. Probably at the implication of being perceived as too weak or something. Ruby’s face scrunches up into the cutest frustrated glare. Her body language practically screaming a challenge to the gauntlet thrown down (Natasha would, months later and after many repetitions, refer to it as Ruby’s Gryffindor-about-to-do-something-stupid, or equivalently the hold-my-beer expression). 

No longer paying Clint’s prattling warning any attention, the woman turned to the range and extended her arm out with the bow. Not wasting a second she nocked an arrow and began to draw the string back, letting out a small huff as she drew, easy as you please. The mechanical wheels on the top and bottom of the limbs groaned at the incredible tension even as they spun to let out the string. 

...all while Natasha, Clint and Laura’s jaws collectively dropped and the trio have a brief moment of praising whatever gods may or may not exist for their kindly gift. Nothing else could possibly explain the rippling curves of the muscles in Ruby’s back and shoulders. The trio realised, now that’s she’s actually flexing, that Ruby was a bit like a bodybuilder. While she may be big, under whatever fat she had was a core of incredibly strong and defined muscle. The hard curves of which looked entirely too yummy. Especially as they noticed how Clints old tank top, thrown on while Laura washed the clothes Ruby arrived in was just a bit too small, flashed lots of skin...and gloriously highlighted the way a sheen of sweat made her tanned skin glisten. 

It’s not until seconds later that any of the trio recovered enough to even begin to process anything beyond ogling their soulmate. After the harsh snap of the limbs being fired and the thunk of an arrow slamming into a padded target echoed through the cavernous space. Eventually though, they all glance down range and see the arrow buried, just off center in a target 30 feet away. An easy shot by Clint standards, but would have been extremely challenging for a beginner.

“The bow felt a bit light actually. I could see taking the draw-weight up a bit actually. How was the shot though? Was my form okay?” Ruby said, turning to face the trio, a big happy grin on her face (with just a hint of a smirk coming through at the dumbstruck expression on Clint’s face).

“That was _the_ single, sexiest thing I think I have _ever_ seen in my life.” Clint exclaims dreamily. The redhead was inclined to agree, even if unlike her hawk she doesn’t actually have a stash of nude archery porn on her computer. Still, she gives him a playful slap on the arm, just on general principle and to remind him to actually answer the question Ruby’s waiting on. 

“Ouch, goddammit Nat! That hurt.” Clint whined, pouting until Nat shot him a glare and gestured for him to go on. “Okay yeah. Your stance is pretty good, though be a bit more careful about how you draw though. Remember, as I was saying, your back is a whole lot stronger than your shoulders. Not only do you risk injury, but you’ll be able to handle an even higher draw-weight if you use your entire back and core to pull instead. Not that you freaking need it, adorable she-hulk that you are.” The blonde explained, getting a blindingly beaming grin from Ruby at the praise. 

The half-giant took a second to titter happily before nocking an arrow and asking Clint to help show her again how it’s done before the pair was off in archery nerd heaven again. Neither Ruby or Clint seeming to really be noticing Laura or Natasha herself. Natasha wasn’t sure if the building sense of frustrated sexual tension was from her or Laura. She did know however, that watching Clint train Ruby was ten kinds of hot, even if unintentional. Within seconds the archer had sidled up close into Ruby’s personal space, then gently slid his arms along her arms and back to point out muscle groups to pull from. All while pushing his legs between hers to refine her stance and just generally get his hands all over her. 

Laura coughed pointedly beside her to get the pairs attention. 

“Clint, Ruby, my dears, I’m ever so glad you’re having so much fun. Natasha just wanted to let you know that Fury agreed to the plan and you’re heading to New York tomorrow. While I just wanted to let you know, that given how little down time y’all have at home, Nat and I are going to make the best of the afternoon… by, working out some of our _tension_ in the bedroom.” Laura purred in a silky sweet tone before spinning on her heel abruptly. The brunette took a step away from the now gawking pair, before pausing once more. She half turned back and threw them a smouldering look over her shoulder.

“You know, just in case you wanted to, say, join us and celebrate a rare afternoon with no kids around and the quad finally together.” The housewife mentioned daintily, shooting the pair a pointed look. Natasha couldn’t help but let out an amused snicker as Clint and Ruby started falling all over themselves to back up the weapons and follow her out of the building. 

Gods, she loved that woman.


End file.
